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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: 




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Copyrighted by 

The Bethel Publishing Company 

Dayton, Ohio 

1909 



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"* .48255 
SEP U 1909 



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DEDICATORY 

To All 
who desire to come into possession of a 
larger endowment of truth as it is 
in Jesus Christ, this vol- 
ume is humbly dedicated. 



PREFACE 



|T^7C||J/jHEN the first pages of this little vol- 
i^/S^/ii ume were prepared, it was not for the 
purpose or putting into book rorm. 
But as explorations were made in these 
fertile fields, the author made what to 
him appeared such happy discoveries, that his 
own heart was caused to overflow with joy, and 
was also made to feel that his joy would be in- 
creased, if he might share it with his friends. 

Consequently, this volume has been prepared, 
and is sent forth amidst mingled feelings of grati- 
tude and humility, with an earnest prayer and sin- 
cere hope that it may as truly prove a blessing to 
him who reads as to him who wrote. 

It would be impossible for the author to ac- 
knowledge in the fullest sense, his indebtedness. 
Too many factors have entered into his volume to 
enumerate. In every case, credit is given, when a 
quotation is made. Among the many authors 
to whom the author feels a special indebtedness, 

5 



Preface 

are W. G. Moorehead, C. H. Mcintosh, Joseph 
A. Seiss, Philip Schaff, William Smith, A. A. 
Hodge, Adam Clarke, Edwin Rice, Patrick Fair- 
bairn, and James Orr in their respective works. 

Also a few words about Scripture quotations 
are befitting. Throughout this volume, the 
Authorized Version is given the preference. In 
some instances however, the American Version is 
much clearer and distinct and is quoted; but such 
quotations are indicated by the abbreviation A. V. 

When for the sake of clearness and force, 
independent translations are made by the author 
from the original Hebrew and Greek texts, he has 
sought absolute fairness to the original, and in 
each case, indicates the translation as being inde- 
pendent. 

The illustrations used are from The Popular 
and Critical Bible Encyclopoedia, and are used 
by the courtesy of The Howard Severance Com- 
pany. 

Should the contents of this little volume prove 
a blessing to you, dear reader ; will you please help 
to speed it on its mission of love? 

Yours until His Appearing, 

The Author. 
Dayton, Ohio, June 16, 09. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Chapters Pagb 

I. The Christ of Eden, . - 9 

II. Christ in the Sacrifice, - - - 23 

III. Christ and the Law, - 48 

IV. Christ in the Sanctuary, - - 62 

V. The Christ of Prophecy, - - - 108 

VI. The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of 

Humanity, - - - - 115 

VII. The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of 

Royalty, 130 

VIII. The Christ of Prophecy — The Man 

of Sorrows, - - - - 159 

IX. The Christ of Prophecy — The Man 

of Triumph, - - - 170 




CHAPTER I 
The Christ of Eden 

HE earliest page of human history, with 
the events which cluster about man as 
the highest and most exalted of earthly 
creatures, is introduced by the sublime 
statement, "in the beginning God." 
The declaration is that, in the beginning, a 
time or condition prior to which there could be 
nothing predicated, God created the heavens and 
the earth. Inspiration also sings by the mouth of 
the Psalmist: "Of old hast thou laid the founda- 
tion of the earth : and the heavens are the work of 
thy hands." Psa. 102:25. Again, the voice of 
Jehovah silences Job's miserable comforters and 
accusers, and exposes the ignorance of Job him- 
self by propounding to him the question: "Where 
wast thou when I laid the foundations of the 
earth?" Job 38:4. 

Creation not Arrangement. — The question of 
how God created the heavens and the earth, is 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

not so important to men as the fact that he did it. 
It is not processes which men need to know, so 
much as results. 

Evidently God did not simply arrange pre- 
existing materials into a system, but brought into 
existence the material itself, as is suggested from 
the Hebrew verb, n *} 3 (bara) which we translate 
"create." It is worthy of note that this highly 
expressive Hebrew verb is used in connection with 
the history of creation, when there is a distinct 
bringing into existence, such as when matter, ani- 
mal life and man appear. The more common 
word is n frv (asah) which means "to make." 

Here the mind may stagger and man in un- 
aided shortsightedness may declare this to be im- 
possible, but faith soars to the lofty summit, where 
it beholds the omnipotence of God and understands 
the mystery. Such was the conclusion of the 
author of the book of Hebrews when he wrote: 
"Through faith we understand that the worlds 
were framed by the word of God, so that the things 
which are seen were not made of things which do 
appear." Heb. 11:3. 

Such being true, Inspiration introduces man, in 
the very beginning of the sacred records, into alti- 
tudes to which the finite alone cannot go; and the 
sacred word from its beginning to its close, is a 
chain of mountain peaks with its intervening val- 

10 



The Christ of Eden 

leys of truth on the lower level. This Is what 
stamps not only the work, but the word as well, 
with Divinity and makes it the Book of Books. 

If man could stand where Jehovah stands, and 
see things as he sees them, all would be as clear as 
day. But for us in this age, it is only given to 
know in part: beyond revelation little is known. 
For these centuries man has been figuring upon 
God's acts and providences, and like the hiero- 
glyphics of Egypt, occasionally one is read in its 
intelligence, but the bulk is as yet among the un- 
known. However the word of revelation is mar- 
velous and contains all that man needs to know. . 

Man God's Highest Purpose. — While this be- 
ginning is no doubt hid in the depths of the ages, 
and its remoteness none can tell: yet it is evident 
that the Infinite had a purpose in view and that 
purpose was man. 

From the moment that the Holy Spirit moved 
upon the face of the waters, and the chaotic con- 
dition of the earth gave place to order, every 
energy appears to have been directed to one end, 
and that end was man, God's great master-piece 
and crowning glory. His holiness, his happiness 
and his immortality were carefully provided by 
the Creator: His holiness was guaranteed by the 
impartation from Jehovah himself, of his own 
breath: His happiness was secured by his ideal 

1 1 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

surroundings, and his immortality was arranged 
for in the tree of life. 

Philosophy reasons from effect to cause, and 
frequently the belief in the personality of the Crea- 
tor is reached from the personality of the creature, 
but here opportunity is given to reason from Crea- 
tor to creature for God purposed to make man in 
his own image, hence personality is guaranteed to 
him, because God has already been found to 
possess every characteristic of personality. Hence 
man possessed a dignity and worth, in the scale 
of excellence, but a little lower than the angels. 
Heb. 2 : 7-9. 

In the light of divine revelation, it is indeed 
lowering to the dignity of man, and dishonoring to 
his Creator, to sympathize in any measure what- 
ever, with the abominable imposition of science, 
falsely so called, pretending to trace man, step by 
step, to a primitive condition, as a member of the 
ape family. Men of intelligence and sound judg- 
ment should leave it to others, who are bent on 
doing so, to formulate their own genealogy, trac- 
ing their ancestry to the lower species. They 
should disown any relationship to them, and waste 
no energy but to pity, and if possible, to save. 

The Command and Prohibition. — Man being 
a creature, he was from the very nature of his 
relationship, a subject. His Creator, however, 

12 



The Christ of Eden 

gave him none other restriction or commandment, 
but such as was essential to his highest good. 

The Creator gave to man only one command- 
ment. That was: "Be fruitful, and multiply, and 
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have do- 
minion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl 
of the air, and over every living thing that moveth 
upon the earth." Gen. i : 28. 

But man must have a prohibition as well as a 
command, a negative law as well as a positive one. 
There was only one negative command which man 
was asked to keep. There was growing in the midst 
of the garden a tree, called the tree of the knowl- 
edge of good and evil. Of the fruit of this tree 
he was commanded not to eat. It is not probable 
that this tree was placed in the garden, simply to 
give opportunity for a prohibition or restriction, 
but was no doubt to fill a necessary place in the ar- 
rangement. Its purpose was that of a blessing, 
but by a misappropriation of its fruitage it became 
a curse. 

The holiness, happiness and immortality of 
man, were conditioned upon a properly sustained 
relation between him and his Creator: for, man 
was dependent, and was evidently serving a pro- 
bationary period. The proper relation was that 
of complete submission and perfect obedience. 

13 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

Man a Self-determining Creature. — That man 
was a self determining creature, was necessary 
and evident from the image and stamp of the 
Divine person which he bore. Anything less than 
this would have denied him personality, and given 
him a place not more exalted than that of the 
animal kingdom. 

Man's proper use of his free moral agency; 
choosing for his portion, complete submission and 
perfect obedience; would have sealed to him, a 
never ending heritage of the blessings bestowed 
upon him in his Eden birth. His probation 
would have, in all probability, ceased at sometime 
in his history, and the possibility of any calamity 
or sorrow forever barred. 

Eden's Glories Eclipsed. — How long earth, 
with man as its lord, sustained its close and sub- 
servient relation to heaven, is not stated. But 
since long periods of time are passed over in sa- 
cred history by a short sentence or two, or in ab- 
solute silence; it may have been a longer period 
of time than is usually thought. To say the least, 
chronology is one of the most difficult things, in 
connection with early history; and all scholars are 
well aware of the fact that the best chronology 
which we have, being that of Ussher, is far from 
correct; and is simply used as a basis of uniform- 
ity, and that, for want of a more correct one. 

14 



The Christ of Eden 

Be that as it may, it is evident to all, that the 
glories of the Eden world have long ago gone into 
eclipse. 

Man, at the suggestion of Satan, who ap- 
pears upon the scene at this time for the first in 
the medium of the serpent, has disobeyed God, 
and his disobedience has reversed every enjoy- 
ment and prospect, broken his fellowship with his 
Creator, robbed him of his moral likeness to 
God and set to work in his body the process of 
mortality; for God has said: "In the day that 
thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Gen. 
2: 17. It takes all the sufferings, sorrows, pain, 
wretchedness, poverty, heartaches, tears and mor- 
tality, which humanity has suffered or ever will 
suffer, to spell out the meaning of this single 
event, in the history of the progenitors of our 
race. 

The first man and woman, being the federal 
head of the entire human race; the whole of their 
posterity was involved in the fall and the glories 
of Eden had as truly and completely gone into 
eclipse, for the last one who should be born, as 
for the first one who had sinned. What is to be 
done? Man, God's highest creature and the 
crowning glory of creation, has allied himself 
with Satan against God, and the dark cloud of 
eternal vengeance is hanging over the head of 

15 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

every son and daughter of Adam's race. Does 
man return? He cannot. He has allied himself 
with Satan; is under Satan's authority; and is 
enslaved. Can he escape death? Not so. Di- 
vine justice must be executed. Can he be happy? 
By no means. No soul can be happy in such for- 
eign and broken relations, whose only guarantee 
of happiness was complete and perfect obedience. 
Can he replace the stamp of divine nature? No, 
for Satan's stamp is already there. Man has 
fallen into wretchedness and despair, in which he 
lies totally helpless. 

Who can imagine the billows of anguish, 
which rolled across the souls of the first pair, as 
they resorted to the flimsy device of a fig leaf 
apron, to cover their nakedness; and hid them- 
selves among the trees of the garden, to con- 
ceal themselves from the eyes of an all search- 
ing Omniscience. 

The Heavenly Council. — While these events 
are transpiring in the lower world, unchronicled 
events are occurring in the council chambers of 
heaven. 

God, with the Son, together with the Holy 
Spirit, constituting the Trinity — the cabinet of 
heaven, who sat together in counsel, when the cre- 
ation of man was contemplated, and to whom God 
said: "Let us make man in our image, after our 

16 



The Christ of Eden 

likeness;" again sat in counsel as to the condition 
of man in his wretched, dying state. 

The Decree. — If the reasonings of this divine 
counsel could be translated into language other 
than that which belongs to the celestial world, 
alone, this would probably be its burden: "My jus- 
tice and righteousness must be preserved; my sen- 
tence must be executed. But my mercy demands, 
that, these creatures who have been created to re- 
flect my glory and bear our image, and to enjoy my 
blessings, should not be allowed to remain help- 
less, in the grasp of the fallen arch angel, and 
with him be cast into the lake of burning, which 
I have prepared for him, and for those who have 
followed him in his apostasy." To this the Son 
replies : "Father, let it be agreed to give man one 
more probation — one more opportunity to choose 
for happiness. I volunteer to robe myself in the 
vesture of humanity, and become one of them. 
I will take a place as the second head of the 
human race, and meet Satan upon the open bat- 
tlefield. I will take upon myself, all the sins and 
sorrows of humanity ; allow myself to suffer death, 
thus paying the penalty of their disobedience, and 
preserving divine justice; but, to the surprise of 
angels, Satan and men, I will break the powers 
of death, and bring the possibility of eternal life 
2 I 7 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

and happiness within the reach of every fallen 
one who will accept." 

With a smile of his approval, The Father 
declares: "My Son so let it be." 

Mingled and Unmingled Justice. — Other de- 
tails of the great plan to be set into ■ operation, 
being completed, God descends to call man 
and his enemy, Satan, to judgment. Every an- 
nouncement to sin ruined man is readily seen to 
be a mingling of justice and mercy; but mercy 
predominating to an over-flowing extent. The 
ground must bring forth thorns and thistles to 
man. He must eat his bread by the sweat of his 
face ; his hands must know hard labor. To woman 
must be added multiplied conceptions and sor- 
sows; child-bearing, the function assigned to her 
in sinless Eden, must be carried out with much dis- 
tress and pain. These, all these, can be joyously 
borne in the light of the succeeding revelation. 
God having addressed himself to Satan, repre- 
sented by the serpent, dealt to him a sentence of 
divine judgment, unmingled with mercy, saying: 
"Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou 
above all cattle and above every beast of the field ; 
upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou 
eat all the days of thy life ; and I will put enmity 
between thee and the woman, and between thy 

18 



The Christ of Eden 

seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and 
thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. 3: 14, 15. 

Satan's Boundary Set. — This is the first an- 
nouncement, of a Redeemer. In it, Satan has his 
boundary set for him by Omnipotence. He will 
be allowed to afflict humanity temporarily, bruis- 
ing his heel, even the heel of the Redeemer; but 
his own head shall be crushed, thus permanently 
bruising and destroying his power and authority, 
over all who desire to be delivered from his king- 
dom. 

A Circuitous Route for Immortality.- — Again, 
God displayed his mercy to man in driving him 
from the garden, and guarding the entrance 
with cherubim and a many edged flaming sword, 
thus guarding the way to the tree of life. The 
tree of life was, evidently, a provision made for 
man's immortality, and its fruits, if eaten even 
by fallen man, might have rendered him immortal. 

For man to blunder into an immortality of 
existence, in his wretched, miserable condition, 
would have been a second calamity, equal to the 
first. Consequently, the Lord in mercy, barred 
him from this possible calamity and started him 
out in a more circuitous route, for immortality, 
during which journey, he should be delivered by 
the promised Redeemer, from the things which 
would make immortality of existence undesirable, 

19 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

and have restored to him the blessings and excel- 
lences which were his in Eden. It is a most de- 
lightful and interesting thing to note that when 
man's circuitous pilgrimage is ended, cherubim 
and flaming swords will have disappeared from 
our future Eden's gate and the tree of life which 
is still growing by the river of life, ever yielding 
its fruits, will be accessible to redeemed men. 
Hence, as in the man of Eden, the Edenic glories 
had been eclipsed for every man; even so in the 
Christ of Eden, the blessings of complete re- 
demption are brought within the reach of all. 

A Progressive Unfolding of Divine Purposes. — 
It is not to be understood that either man, or 
Satan, understood in full, the decree of the heav- 
enly counsel. Through these centuries God's pur- 
poses have been progressively unfolding, and his 
powers have been working wonders in the inter- 
ests of mankind. In this knowledge, we are the 
"heirs of all the ages," and we may well rest as- 
sured, that in the fulness of time, in God's own 
order ; the purpose of Heaven's own planning will 
be fully realized. 

The promise of the Redeemer, although not 
in detail understood, kindled a lively hope, in 
the saddened hearts of the first transgressors. It 
painted a picture of life, upon a background of 
death. In the face of imminent death and mor- 

20 



The Christ of Eden 

taiity, anticipation and expectation rose so high 
in the bosom of the first man, Adam, that he 
called his wife, Eve, for she was the mother of 
all living. This fact stands out in greater beauty, 
when it is understood that the Hebrew name for 
Eve, was rnn (hhav-vaw) which means life, or 
life-giver. This event, occurring at such a dark 
period in human history, is a remarkable testi- 
mony to the effect, the promise of the Christ 
made in Eden, had upon despairing hearts. Here 
life begins to spring up out of the very ruins of 
death like a more beautiful city out of its own 
ashes. 

A Keen Disappointment. — We also have an 
intimation, that the woman expected an immediate 
fulfillment of the promise of a seed who should 
bruise the serpent's head; for when she gave birth 
to her first son, she called his name | ? p (kah-yin) 
Cain, meaning possession, saying: "I have gotten 
a man from the Lord." Gen. 4:1. So keen was 
her disappointment in not realizing the fulfillment 
of the promise, that upon the birth of her second 
son, she named him h 3 ft (heh-bel) Abel, which 
meant disappointment. 

The Christ of Eden, the Savior of the World. — 
While the details of the plan of redemption 
were not known from the beginning, there was 
no uncertainty as to the facts. The Christ, prom- 

21 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

ised in Eden, from that moment was the Savior 
of the world; making it possible that the first 
woman who yielded to the temptation of disobe- 
dience, might through a living faith in the prom- 
ised Redeemer, become a subject of his redemp- 
tive grace. 



22 




CHAPTER II 
Christ in the Sacrifice 

UST why, in the great plan of redemp- 
tion, the expectation of early man was 
allowed to be disappointed, and the 
coming of Christ was placed so many 
years in the future, is a question which 
may be asked, but which infinite wisdom alone 
could answer. The interrogations, "how" and 
"why," are not always the language of a skeptic, 
but many times that of an honest, intelligent in- 
quirer. But since the Lord has not deemed it 
necessary or expedient, to disclose the secrets of 
his plans, we must not demand, upon the threat 
of unbelief, a positive answer to every question 
which may arise in our minds ; but remember that 
his ways are higher than our ways, and his 
thoughts are above our thoughts. Isa. 55:9. 

While the coming of the Redeemer, who 
should by his own death and sufferings bruise for- 
ever the head of the serpent, was placed many 
years in the future, a system was instituted which 

23 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

should in a measure substitute and, in every par- 
ticular, point forward to the great redemptive 
work of Christ. It was the sacrificial system. 
Every drop of blood which flowed from the ani- 
mal of sacrifice was a message to man, telling him 
of his own guilt, Divine justice, God's mercy, and 
of the work which should be accomplished when 
their real and effectual sacrifice should be made, 
which should be none other than the Lamb of God„ 

Origin of the Sacrifice 

Concerning the origin of the sacrificial system, 
not a little has been written: some of value and 
worth, much of but little merit. There are some 
who would make religion a matter of evolution. 
They would teach that monotheism, or the belief 
in one God, which is set forth in the earliest pages 
of history, is an evolution of or advancement from 
earlier heathenism with its multiplicity of gods. 
This would have a tendency to stamp the sacri- 
ficial system as a refined continuance of a heathen 
practice, and not a divine institution. This is in- 
deed a very unworthy doctrine and should find a 
place along side of the wretched doctrine of the 
evolution of man. It is plainly indicated that man's 
primitive belief was that of one God and Cre- 
ator; and that heathenism with its various forms 
is a corruption and "wayward offspring" of prim- 

24 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

itive and pure religion, and is not its "ignorant 
parent." 

The sacrificial system is a divine institution, 
and dates back almost to Eden, and has in it vol- 
umes of messages concerning the sacrifice to be 
offered once and for all. 

It is not our purpose to teach that, while par- 
ticipating in the sacrifices, men were always con- 
scious of the full importance which Jehovah at- 
tached to them, and he may never have under- 
stood as it is possible to understand them to day, 
as the light of centuries is thrown back upon them, 
and the perfect sacrifice, of which they were but 
the imperfect foreshadowings, has become a mat- 
ter of history; but Jehovah whose institution they 
were, fully understood them; and we have abun- 
dance of reason to believe that their significance 
was understood, in a distinct manner, by at least, 
some of those who participated in them. 

The First Sacrifice- 

The first cases of sacrifice, are related in con- 
nection with the early history of the first family. 
Cain and Abel brought their offerings unto the 
Lord; one was accepted and the other rejected. 
The questions might be asked: why was Abel's 
offering accepted and Cain's rejected? Was it 

25 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

because of the kind of offering which he brought? 
Hebrews the eleventh chapter and the fourth 
verse teaches that it was "by faith" that Abel's 
offering was "more excellent," or acceptable, and 
that it was through this "more excellent" sacrifice 
that he obtained witness that he was righteous. 
Now Abel was evidently conscious of the fact of 
sin, and also of the fact of God's mercy; and the 
offering which he brought was of such a nature 
that Jehovah accepted it, and gave him witness 
of the same. Cain must have been in a position 
to have the same knowledge of sin and mercy; 
but the offering which he brought was rejected. 
In what did the two offerings differ? One offer- 
ing, that of Abel, was of such a nature that it 
required the shedding of blood: the other was 
bloodless. Evidently, the principle of truth sug- 
gested in Hebrews 9: 22, "Without shedding of 
blood is no remission," was in force at this early 
date. 

It will not only be interesting, but profitable, 
at this point, to note that when Jehovah later 
formally commanded the Israelites to keep the 
blood covenant or sacrifice, he favored them with 
an explanation of this demand, by saying: "For 
the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have 
given it to you upon the altar to make an atone- 
ment for your souls: for it is the blood that 

26 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

maketh an atonement for the soul." Lev. 17 : 11. 
The truth then is this, that life is in the blood. 
Through sin man has forfeited his life; conse- 
qently, it is only through the shedding of blood, 
or giving of life, that atonement can be made 
for sin. This doubtless answers the question, as 
to the offerings of Cain and Abel. It was, in- 
deed, an act of mercy upon the part of Divine 
justice, to accept as a substitute, the life of a 
beast for the life of a human transgressor. 

These considerations would suggest that, 
even in this particular case, at such a very early 
date, sacrifice was of the nature of an atonement 
or expiation. Hence the shedding of blood was 
necessary. The atonement made however, by any 
animal sacrifice, was only temporary, and required 
frequent repetition. It was but little more than a 
message, oft repeated, of man's guilt, Divine jus- 
tice and God's mercy. 

Now, the faith possessed by Abel, that his 
sacrifice was in keeping with divine requirement, 
must have had a base upon which to rest. Either 
one or all, of three things may have constituted 
this assurance. 

I. It may have been a positive command, 
from God, that the sacrifice must be that 
of blood. 



27 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

2. It may have been, simply, an inward im- 
pulse, arising from his knowledge, of the 
nature of sin and of God's justice and 
mercy. 

3. It may have been a result, of a precedent 
established, or example given, by God him- 
self. 

Either one of these three things, would have been 
sufficient to form a ground, for the faith of Abel ; 
and assure him that the sacrifice, such as he was 
making, was a divine institution, hence acceptable. 
He may however, have had all three of these as 
a ground of faith. It is quite evident, that we 
have an intimation, at least, in the sacred records, 
that the sacrifice in its earliest history, was insti- 
tuted by God himself, either by example or imme- 
diate command. 

The Fig Leaf Aprons and Their Better 
Substitute 

When our foreparents, in Eden, found them- 
selves sinful and naked, immediately they sewed 
fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. 
Sin has always sought a covering. This one was 
insufficient. We are then told by the sacred his- 
torian, that, "Unto Adam also and to his wife 
did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed 

28 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

them." Gen. 3:21. By this we are informed, 
that, the price of the covering for man's naked- 
ness and sin, was the life of the animal. It is 
hardly necessary for us to understand that the 
animal was slain by the hand of God, himself; 
but, rather, that it was in direct execution of his 
command. Sacred history often speaks of God 
as doing a thing; not taking note of the instru- 
ment or person, used in its accomplishment. ~~ Con- 
cerning these aprons, the Hebrew literally trans- 
lated, reads: "And God caused them to put on 
tunics of skins." Thus it would appear, that the 
Lord permitted those who had been victims of 
the fall, and upon whom death had been pro- 
nounced, as a sign or pledge of their deliverance, 
to take the first life, and shed the first blood, as 
a type of him who was himself the seed of the 
woman; but who should conquer Satan, destroy 
his power over man, deliver from the curse, and 
prepare man for eternal blessedness and a youth- 
ful immortality. What a wonderful message of 
salvation in this early shedding of blood. 

This earliest shedding of blood with its sig- 
nificance is so fundamental to a proper concep- 
tion of the origin of sacrifice and its later practice 
that, it must not be passed lightly by. Fairbairn 
in his "Typology of Scripture" gives a delightful 
paragraph to these earliest incidents of sacrificing, 

29 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

saying: "The conclusion seems inevitable, that 
the institution of sacrifice must have been essen- 
tially of divine origin; for though we cannot ap- 
peal to any record of its direct appointment by 
God, yet there are notices concerning sacrificial 
worship which cannot be satisfactorily explained 
on the supposition, in any form, of its merely 
human origin. There is a recorded fact, how- 
ever, which touches the very borders of the sub- 
ject, and which, we may readily perceive, fur- 
nished a divine foundation on which a sacrificial 
worship, such as is mentioned in Scripture, might 
be built. It is the fact noticed at the close of 
God's interview with our first parents after the 
fall: 'And unto Adam also, and to his wife, did 
the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed 
them.' The painful sense of nakedness that op- 
pressed them after their transgression, was the 
natural offspring of a consciousness of sin — an 
instinctive fear lest the unveiled body should give 
indication of the evil thoughts and dispositions 
which now lodged within. Hence, to get relief 
to this uneasy feeling, they made coverings for 
themselves of such things as seemed best adapted 
to the purpose, out of that vegetable world which 
had been freely granted for their use. They 
girded themselves about with fig-leaves. But they 
soon found that this covering proved of little 

30 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

avail to hide their shame, where most of all they 
needed to have it hidden; it left them miserably 
exposed to the just condemnation of their offended 
God. If a real and valid covering should be ob- 
tained, sufficient to relieve them of all uneasiness, 
God himself must provide it. And so he actu- 
ally did. As soon as the promise of mercy had 
been disclosed to the offenders, and the constitu- 
tion of mingled goodness and severity brought in, 
he made coats to clothe them with, and these 
coats of skin. But clothing so obtained argued 
the sacrifice of life in the animal that furnished 
them; and thus, through the death of an inferior 
yet innocent living creature, was the needed re- 
lief brought to their disquieted and fearful bos- 
oms. The outward and corporeal here manifestly 
had respect to the inward and spiritual. The cov- 
ering of their nakedness was a gracious token 
from the hand of God, that the sin which had 
alienated them from him, and made them con- 
scious of uneasiness, was henceforth to be in his 
sight as if it were not; so that in covering their 
flesh, he at the same time covered their con- 
sciences. If viewed apart from this higher sym- 
bolical aim, the outward act will naturally ap- 
pear small and unworthy of God; but so to view 
it were to dissever it from the very reason of its 
performance. It was done purposely to denote 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

the covering of guilt from the eye of Heaven — 
an act which God alone could have done. But 
he did it, as we have seen, by a medium of death, 
by a sacrifice of life in those creatures which men 
were not yet permitted to kill for purposes of 
food, and in connection with a constitution of 
grace which laid open the prospect of recovered 
life and blessing to the fallen. Surely it is not 
attributing to the venerable heads of the human 
family, persons who had so recently walked with 
God in paradise, an incredible power of spiritual 
discernment, or supposing them to stretch un- 
duly the spiritual import of this particular action 
of God, if we should conceive them turning the 
divine act into a ground of obligation and privi- 
lege for themselves, and saying : 'Here is Heaven's 
own finger pointing out the way for obtaining re- 
lief to our guilty consciences : the covering of our 
shame is to be found by means of the skins of ir- 
rational creatures, slain in our behalf; their life 
for our lives, their clothing of innocence for our 
shame ; and we cannot err, we shall but show our 
faith in the mercy and forgiveness we have ex- 
perienced, if, as often as the sense of shame and 
guilt returns upon our consciences, we follow the 
footsteps of the Lord, and, by a renewed sacri- 
fice of life, clothe ourselves anew with his own 
appointed badge of acquittal and acceptance.' ' 

32 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

The Edenic Sacrifice 

It is suggested by Alfred Cave, in his book 
entitled, "The Scriptural Doctrine of the Sacri- 
fice," that it is not improbable that, prior to the 
institution of the atoning sacrifice, that of blood; 
a system of offering was practiced in unfallen 
Eden. This practice may have been kept from 
the creation of man. Says Sartorius; "I doubt 
not that our first parents in Paradise, invested 
with sway over the earth, brought not simply 
prayers, but out of the thankfulness of their hearts, 
sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, by consecrat- 
ing to God the firstlings of the flowers and fruits 
of Eden." Neither did the offerings of primitive 
man stop with this, for, as said Augustine: "Pure 
and untainted by any spot or blemish of sin, they 
gave their very selves to God, as the cleanliest of 
offerings." To this another adds: "That excep- 
tional life of fearless intercourse, was, in itself, 
an oblation (or. offering) of the saintliest and 
most expressive kind, — a kind, indeed, which it 
was the problem of all succeeding phases of sac- 
rificial worship to restore." All offerings prior 
to the fall, must have been of the nature of 
thanksgiving, and did not in any sense, partake 
of the nature of atonement or expiation. 

As to the designed perpetuation of the sac- 

3 33 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

rificial system, instituted by God after the fall, 
there is no question. The shedding of the blood 
of the sacrifice, and the yielding up of its life, 
must repeat continuously, to stupid, fallen hu- 
manity of every generation, the message of man's 
guilt, of divine justice and God's mercy, until the 
promise made in Eden should be fulfilled. 

The Noahacic Sacrifice 

As an illustration of this fact, the case of 
Noah, and God's dealings with him, stands out 
in a living picture. 

When the world became so wicked that only 
a few righteous persons could be found, as an 
act of mercy, God found it necessary to destroy 
the impenitent, rebellious ante-diluvians ; lest not 
even a godly seed should remain upon the earth. 

At this time Jehovah gave to the human race 
practically a new beginning. He even pronounced 
upon Noah and his family, the same blessings 
which he had pronounced upon Adam and his 
wife, in the garden. He gave them dominion 
over the animal kingdom, the fish of the sea and 
the fowls of the air. He also gave to them the 
identical command; "Be fruitful, and multiply, 
and replenish the earth." Gen. 9:1. Many 
things were left behind, but one thing was car- 
ried into the new condition. God commanded 

34 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

Noah to take, of the unclean beasts, two of a kind 
into the ark; but of the clean beasts and fowls, 
such as were fit for food and sacrifice, seven of 
each. He was not only to take three pairs of 
each, of the clean kind; so as to quickly and plen- 
tifully replenish the clean kind, but an extra one 
of each, for immediate emergency, for sacrifice, 
before the clean kind could have replenished it- 
self. Consequently, we find Noah, immediately 
upon coming forth from the ark, after the wa- 
ters had subsided, building an altar, and offering 
one of each of the clean beasts and fowls upon it. 
This declares in unmistakable language that, 
while the flood was effectual in destroying wicked 
men ; yet the necessity of the promised Christ was 
not left behind. Man was still the same de- 
praved, fallen creature. Hence, the shedding of 
blood was necessary in the new order. Here, as 
before, the sacrifice was the message of the Christ, 
to sinful humanity. 

In a very short time, this fact was proven. 
Man was found to be the same sinful creature, 
very needy of a Redeemer. Noah, himself, who 
had been so marvelously preserved by the Lord, 
and in whom the greatest hope of the future lay, 
and also upon whom God's special blessings rested, 
became a helpless victim of intemperance, which 
brought upon him great disgrace. Also his own 

35 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

descendants sought to find safety from the punish- 
ments of their own many sins by building a tower 
into the heavens. 

The Abrahamic Sacrifice 

When, because of man's weakness and sin, 
God's purpose in behalf of the human family, in 
the person of Noah and his posterity proved a 
disappointment; he still purposed to preserve 
righteousness upon the earth. By calling out an 
individual, in the person of Abraham, as the head 
and representative of the chosen people, God prac- 
tically inaugurated new methods, for the preser- 
vation of righteousness; making this chosen fam- 
ily, which later became a nation, the special con- 
servators of pure religion. 

This people, Inspiration is pleased to call The 
Hebrew nation. It was after Abraham had left 
his native land of Mesopotamia, crossing over 
the Euphrates River, in obedience to God, not 
knowing whither he was going, that he was called 
an ' 13 J? (ibree), literally meaning a crosser- 
over, a wanderer or a pilgrim. Gen. 14: 13. 
This word is translated in our English versions 
as Hebrew. It is interesting to recount the origin 
of the name of the Hebrew nation and to note 
that God's chosen people of all ages have par- 
taken of the pilgrim life. The Church of Jesus 

36 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

Christ, the Divine Ecclesia, whose name is de- 
rived from the Greek ck, out of, and KaXkw, to 
call, represents the same attitude to God and 
broken relations with the world, as did the He- 
brews of the Old Dispensation. 

After having called Abraham out of Meso- 
potamia, into the land of Canaan, in the quiet of 
the night, God invited him to his tent's door, 
to count, if possible, the stars of the heavens. It 
was then that the Lord declared to him that, as 
the innumerable host of the firmament, so should 
his seed be; also that they should inherit the 
goodly land of Canaan. This covenant was sealed 
in the life blood of an heifer, a goat, a ram, 
a turtle dove and a pigeon. So deep was the 
sin of humanity, and so determined were the pur- 
poses of God, that even the covenant made be- 
tween man and his Creator, for the elevation of 
man, and exaltation of God, had to be made at 
the price of blood. 

One of the most important lessons, which 
Abraham needed to learn; and which was taught 
him, as the representative of the chosen people, 
in such a way that it could, apparently, never be 
forgotten, was the same lesson; that of man's 
guilt, Divine justice and God's mercy. This les- 
son God taught him, by demanding of him a 
sacrifice. This sacrifice was not to be an animal, 

37 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

as was usually offered, but his own son. While 
some would still criticise Abraham for this act, 
charging that it was only a fanatical notion, of 
his, that God desired his son as a sacrifice; in 
the light of the foregoing, it is not difficult to un- 
derstand why God asked for his son Isaac, as a sac- 
rifice. This is frequently spoken of, as a trial of 
Abraham's faith. It was that, but it was also more 
than that. Isaac, who was the child of promise, 
was also the representative or head, of the new 
order — the chosen race. Hence, he was a rep- 
resentative of their guilt and sin. Consequently, 
if his life should have been required, it would 
have been only justice. 

No doubt but, that as Abraham ascended 
Moriah, in company with his only son, who was 
bearing the kindling for the sacrifice; he had a 
keen sense of man's guilt, and God's justice. He 
must have felt in his own heart, that God's de- 
mands were only right and just, and that he dare 
not murmur. Heart touching is the scene, when 
the son on whose shoulders the kindling had been 
laid, innocently says: "Behold the fire and the 
wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offer- 
ing?", and Abraham answered in a way, as 
though he would ward off all fears on the part 
of his son by saying: "My son, God will provide 
himself a lamb for a burnt offering;" but at the 

38 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

same time uttered a prophecy, highly significant; 
although possibly not understood by himself, at 
that moment. Gen. 22:7-8. 

When the altar of stones was completed, and 
the wood arranged, Abraham laid upon it, bound 
hands and feet, his son, the representative of the 
guilt of the nation. He was about to suffer jus- 
tice upon the head of his son, when the angel 
of the Lord interfered by saying: "Lay not thine 
hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto 
him : for now I know that thou f earest God, see- 
ing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son 
from me." Gen. 22: 12. Looking around Abra- 
ham saw a ram, with his horns caught in the 
bushes: and as he laid his hand upon it, and pre- 
sented it upon the altar as a sacrifice, his heart 
must have leaped for joy, as he received a mar- 
velous revelation of God's mercy. This ram, 
which here became a substitute for a guilty, con- 
demned nation was a significant type of Jesus 
Christ, who was to become the substitute offering 
for the world. In this case, Isaac was not the 
type of Christ, but the representative of the guilt 
of the nation, of which he was the head. By be- 
coming the substitute of Isaac and his nation, the 
ram became the type of Christ. In some ways, 
however, Isaac is a beautiful type of Christ, be- 
ing a child of promise. 

39 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

Should any one object to this teaching, saying 
that Abraham, as well as other Old Testament 
saints, had but a faint knowledge of the future 
work of the Christ, to them there appears but one 
answer. It is doubtless true that, while the people 
on the whole, were not fully aware of the signifi- 
cance of the sacrifices in which they engaged from 
time to time; yet, it is plainly indicated, in the 
New Testament scriptures, that Abraham as well 
as others, had a bright vision of the Christ, and 
of his sacrificial work, for says Christ, speaking 
to the Jews: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to 
see my day: and he saw it, and was glad." John 
8:56. This statement from the lips of Christ, is 
as confusing to men to day as it was to the Jews ; 
but in the light of our present investigation, is not 
at all difficult. Nowhere did Abraham have a 
clearer vision of Christ, and his atoning work, 
than when God provided the substitute offering. 

Of the wonderful faith brigade, mentioned in 
Hebrews, the eleventh chapter, the writer says: 
"These all died in faith, not having received the 
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were 
persuaded of them, and embraced them, and con- 
fessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on 
the earth." Heb. 11 : 13. Hence the Old Testa- 
ment worthies must have had a remarkable vision 
of the Christ. 

40 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

The Enfolding of the New; the Unfolding the 
Old. — These New Testament interpretations, con- 
cerning Old Testament subjects, illustrate the re- 
lation of the New Testament to the Old. The 
Old Testament cannot be understood without the 
New ; and the New Testament cannot be properly 
appreciated and valued without the Old. There 
is not a flower of truth blooming in the New 
Testament whose seed was not sown in the soil 
of the Old; and there was not a seed of truth 
planted in the Old Testament which does not 
come to full fruitage in the New. St. Augustine 
long ago said: "The Old Testament is the en- 
folding of the New, and the New Testament is 
the unfolding of the Old." Dr. Samuel Harris, 
says, in his book entitled "Self Revelation:" "The 
Old Testament contains the New as the bud con- 
tains the flower. In Christ, the bud of prophecy 
opens into the flower of history." Henry Ward 
Beecher says: "The very breath of the Old Testa- 
ment is the same breath that prayed, dying, on 
Calvary." Yale Lectures Vol. 3. 

The Levitical Sacrifices 

Now as we arrive at the sacrificial system, out- 
lined by God at the time of Moses, we do not 
find a new institution at all, but simply the sys- 

4i 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

tematizing of a practice, which dates back almost 
to the fall of man. The sacrifices were arranged 
so as to meet the various phases of man's need, 
and to correspond to Christ's provision for that 
need. 

The Whole Burnt Offering. — The sacrifice 
which represented, in the fullest measure, Christ 
in his work of expiation and atonement, was the 
particularly great offering of the Levitical system. 
Whether from the herd of cattle, the flock of 
sheep or goats, or the clean fowl, it was the one 
without blemish, and excepting the fowls, in which 
no distinction was made, a male which was to be 
brought; and having been slain, was to be wholly 
consumed by fire, on the altar of burnt offerings. 
This represents Christ, the choice one of heaven, 
the unblemished one, whose whole life was sacri- 
ficed, and consumed as it were, upon the altar of 
divine justice, in behalf of sinful men. 

The Meat Offering, — which is next arranged in 
the catalogue of the system, is altogether of a 
different nature. It is a bloodless offering. It 
was an offering of flour or corn, and oil and in- 
cense, laid by the priest upon the altar where it 
was consumed. The meat offering was in a sense, 
a distinct offering, but dependent upon the whole 
burnt offering. Preceding the whole burnt offer- 
ing, it had no significance ; and it was not proper, 

42 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

if indeed at all lawful, to offer the whole burnt 
offering without an accompanying meat offering. 

The whole burnt offering, represents the aton- 
ing, sacrificial work of Christ; while the meat 
offering represents the grateful acceptance, of the 
provisions of the atoning sacrifice, on the human 
side. Hence, it can be readily seen, that in its 
relation to the whole burnt offering, it is subse- 
quent to, and dependent upon it. Man could 
not accept the atoning or sacrificial work of Christ 
if none had been made; consequently, there could 
be no meat offering without the whole burnt offer- 
ing. The meat offering, in its application, is the 
subjective side of the sacrificial arrangement, re- 
generating and sanctifying man, making him holy, 
and offering back again to God, in a complete 
consecration, all that the soul is, with the benefits 
received by the atoning work of Christ. It was 
only because of the fact that it represented the 
human side, and its close relation to the bloody 
offering, that it was instituted a bloodless one. 

The Peace Offering, — is next in arrangement. 
Inasmuch as every thing pertaining to the life and 
salvation of man, is dependent upon the blood of 
the sacrifice ; this offering again was a bloody one. 
It resembled in a certain sense, the whole burnt 
offering. Whether the selection was made from 
herd or flock, it was to be without blemish; but 

43 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

male and female might be offered indiscriminately. 
Instead however, of placing the whole sacrifice 
upon the altar, to be consumed, only the kidneys 
and their fat, and the fat upon the inwards, and 
upon the flanks, and the caul or fatty lining about 
and above the liver, and in certain cases other 
fatty parts, were to be offered by the priests upon 
the altar, of burnt offerings. Hence, the richest, 
and most tender and fattiest part of the offering; 
that part which according to oriental taste, would 
constitute the most delicate part of the beast, was 
wholly consumed. The remaining part of the 
offering, provided a feast for the offerer; from 
which he partook joyously. It was a sacrifice of 
thanksgiving and praise. It was instituted in 
commemoration of the great blessings, brought to 
man through the whole burnt offering; and by the 
devout Jew, "was associated with every act of 
God's special grace and mercy." It could not 
occupy any place previous to the whole burnt of- 
fering and the meat offering; for peace and right 
relation to God, which is typified by this offer- 
ing, cannot be attained until the whole burnt 
offering, viz. the merit of the death of Jesus 
Christ, is appropriated to the heart; and the meat 
offering gives back in full consecration, that re- 
deemed or ransomed life. It is then only that 
peace, like a river, majestic and undisturbed in its 

44 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

course, is the experience of the soul, and a peace 
banquet can be held. 

The Sin Offering, — was instituted as a sacrifice 
for the sins committed through ignorance, or un- 
wittingly by either priest, congregation, ruler or 
individual; and partook of an expiatory nature. 

While all the former offerings were complete 
in themselves, there remained yet a need for a sin 
offering. For the Jew, who had appropriated 
every provision of the former offerings to his need, 
was still far from perfect in knowledge and judg- 
ment, and was liable to sin through ignorance. 
The sin for which this offering stood, was not that 
which was committed intentionally, or willingly 
or even knowingly, but innocently through igno- 
rance. 

Man of to-day is very much like the Hebrew 
for whom this offering was instituted. The mo- 
tive of the heart may be right; and yet the judg- 
ment wofully wrong. Even after he has attained 
to what is termed Christian perfection, there is 
yet the need of the sin offering for violations or 
transgressions made ignorantly and innocently. 
According to the demand given by God to Moses, 
this offering was not to be made until the indi- 
vidual, ruler, congregation, or priest became aware 
of that sin. It was a bloody sacrifice, and the 
whole offering was burned, a part upon the altar, 

45 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

and a part without the camp. So Jesus Christ is 
our great sin offering; and when we find ourselves 
repeatedly, yet innocently, committing the sin of 
ignorance, we can appropriate him with his merit. 

This offering was by no means provided for 
the willful transgressor; neither is this a license 
or apology for those who would excuse themselves 
for willful sins. It is simply a means of grace, 
provided for those who are doing their best to 
obey the Lord ; but who, because of imperfections 
of judgment and knowledge, unwittingly trans- 
gress. 

The Trespass Offering, — for sins which were 
committed knowingly, yet in haste or rashness, is 
not clearly defined from the sin offering. The 
guilty person is looked upon as, regretting his dis- 
obedience; but yet, is held guilty. For this sac- 
rifice, an unblemished lamb was required; and the 
offering partook of the expiatory nature. The 
New Testament conception of the Christian is one 
who lives above willful sin; and it is also indi- 
cated, that the same person has a right to appro- 
priate to himself the merit of the sin offering 
above mentioned for sins unwittingly committed. 
A sinless life, in the scriptural sense, is the privi- 
lege and possibility of every Christian, and while 
it is the commandment, that we sin not; yet, "if 
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, 

46 



Christ in the Sacrifice 

Jesus Christ the righteous." i John 2:1. Jesus 
Christ, in this event, becomes even our trespass 
offering. 

Wonderful, indeed, are the provisions made 
by God, in Jesus Christ, to meet man's need; 
which are typified by the ancient sacrifices. The 
various sacrifices may be repeated over and over 
again; but every time the guilty one laid his hand 
upon the head of his offering, as if to transfer to 
it his sin, and it was slain, it was only a repeti- 
tion of the great lessons of truth, bespeaking 
man's guilt, Divine justice and God's mercy. In 
reference to this, the author of Hebrews says; 
"For the law having a shadow of good things to 
come, and not the very image of the things, can 
never with those sacrifices which they offered year 
by year continually make the comers thereunto 
perfect. For then would they not have ceased to 
be offered? Because that the worshippers once 
purged should have had no more conscience of 
sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remem- 
brance again made of sins every year. For it is 
not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats 
should take away sins." Heb. 10: 1-4. 

In fact, every sacrifice of the Old Testament 
Dispensation, was a promissory note, acknowledg- 
ing the debt incurred upon man, because of sin; 
but which pledged a full payment, in the sum of 
Christ's sufferings upon the cross. 

47 




CHAPTER III 
Christ and the Law 

Yft HEN it is stated that every institution 
of the Old Dispensation bears a close 
relation to, or represents some phase 
of the new, the giving of the law is 
no exception. A careful study of its 
nature and purpose will disclose the fact that it 
is in itself a finger-board, pointing to the Christ. 
The thunderings and lightnings of Mt. Sinai 
were not without occasion; and the message of 
the law by which they were accompanied, daily 
preaches powerful sermons of righteousness and 
judgment, portraying in life-like pictures, Man's 
guilt and Divine justice. 

Two Copies of God's Law. — The law given to 
Moses, however, was not the first one. God has 
written two copies of his law, and each of these 
copies, were exact transcripts of his own nature, 
and consequently, identical. The first and orig- 
inal copy, was written upon the heart of man, in 
his creation. Had the heart of man remained in 
a sinless, and perfect condition, retaining that 

4 8 



Christ and the Law 

original copy of God's law; there would have 
been no occasion, for the giving of the second. 
The original copy had, however, become so ef- 
faced by sin that a second copy became necessary. 
This one was written by the finger of God, not 
this time, upon the tables of the heart, but, upon 
tables of stone. These laws have been copied, 
and have been handed down to each successive 
generation. This copy was not handed down to 
succeeding generations, subjectively, upon the 
heart, as the first copy would have been, had it 
remained, but objectively, on later provided tab- 
lets, those of stone and parchment. 

Broken items of God's law can still be read 
from the original copy — the conscience of man; 
but imperfectly, and on the whole with unsafety. 
That which remains of the original copy, is but 
a fragment; and had it not been for the second 
copy, written upon tables of stone, God's law 
would to-day be practically unknown to the world. 
Using for its copy the Law of Sinai, grace is at 
work, again re-chiseling upon the hearts of men 
the original transcript of God's nature; and when 
this work is fully accomplished, the tables of 
stone will no longer be necessary. 

Necessity of a Second Copy. — It is readily 
seen that the occasion of the giving of the law, 
upon tables of stone, was the fall of man. Had 
4 49 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

man retained the Divine image, there would have 
been no need of a single commandment, found in 
the decalogue or outside of it, involving any moral 
question. 

Had man continued in that holy relationship 
to God in which he was created, in which he lived 
before sin touched him, and from which he fell, 
the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no 
other gods before me," would have been abso- 
lutely uncalled for. Man in that sinless condition 
could not have approached any ways near the con- 
ception of another object of worship. 

The second commandment, "Thou shalt not 
make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness 
of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in 
the earth beneath, or that is in the water under 
the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to 
them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God 
am a jealous God," etc., would have been as far 
from necessary as the first; for it sustains a close 
relation to the first, and could not be violated 
without the violation of the first. 

The third commandment, "Thou shalt not 
take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for 
the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh 
his name in vain," would have been more super- 
fluous to man, in his original, holy state, had he 
remained in it, than it is to the saintliest man who 

5° 



Christ and the Law 

lives to-day and has probably, in all his life, never 
violated it. 

The fourth commandment, "Remember the 
Sabbath day, to keep it holy," was not once hinted 
at in unfallen Eden ; for every day was a holy day, 
then. Man being not only God's great master- 
piece, but his last creative act, his first dawn of 
morning, was the ushering in of God's great day 
of rest. This Sabbath would possibly have con- 
tinued, had sin not interrupted. The advent of 
sin, accompanied by its curses, introduced the day 
of toil and labor; consequently, any day, less than 
an holy day, is necessitated by the fall. In God's 
mercy, amidst the days of toil and hardship, a 
Sabbath day of rest was arranged. But inasmuch 
as man's first morning introduced a holy day, 
which has been interrupted by sin; his last morn- 
ing will introduce a holy day when redemption's 
work will be complete, and the necessity of any 
thing short of a Sabbath day will forever be re- 
moved. 

The decalogue was written by God, for man, 
upon two tables of stone. In view of the fact 
that the first four commandments look toward the 
regulating of man, in his relation to and conduct 
toward God, they may have constituted the whole 
number, found on the first table of stone. These 
are seen to have been necessary, because of, the 

51 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

loss of the divine stamp or image, from the heart 
of man. Even so, the remaining six, which look 
especially, toward the regulation of man, in his 
relation and conduct to his fellows, would have 
been unnecessary had it not been for the fall. 

The fifth commandment, "Honor thy father 
and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon 
the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee;" 
would have been as certainly, and as easily fulfilled 
to the letter, without a commandment to that ef- 
fect, as an object tossed skyward is brought to the 
earth, by the law of gravitation. Also the fol- 
lowing five commandments, "Thou shalt not kill," 
"Thou shalt not commit adultery," "Thou shalt 
not steal," "Thou shalt not bear false witness 
against thy neighbor," "Thou shalt not covet thy 
neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neigh- 
bor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid- 
servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that 
is thy neighbor's;" which are all negative com- 
mandments; would have been as foreign to man, 
in his holy state, as to God himself. For, his 
nature stamped upon man, would have demanded 
as high a standard of purity and morals, as his 
own nature demanded, when he took occasion to 
express himself, upon tables of stone. 

No Moral Standard of Measurement. — Inas- 
much then, as the divine nature and impress of 

52 



Christ and the Law 

God, was lost from the heart of man ; and though 
a Redeemer was promised who should espouse 
the cause of fallen humanity, and purchase back 
for him his heritage; yet, after the fall, there re- 
mained for man no objective standard of morals 
and purity by which he could measure himself. 
Hence, he could not know how far he came from 
measuring up to divine requirement; and conse- 
quently was not capable of realizing, in the truest 
sense, his real danger, and his greatest need of 
the promised Redeemer. 

The Second, a Substantial Copy. — It was an 
act of mercy, on the part of heaven, when a second 
copy of the law was given. This time, it was 
not amidst the quiet scenes of creative work, but 
amidst the flashing of fierce lightnings, deafening 
peals of thunder and trembling of the earth, that 
the great God of the Universe, proceeded to write 
with his own hand a second copy of his law. 
Man's attention must be arrested when God him- 
self ministers : He must be made to feel that God 
is speaking to him. From the very nature of the 
case, the law had to be written objectively, where 
man could read and upon such material as would 
not admit of erasement. Tables of stone were 
chosen, upon which, God wrote the second copy 
of his law with his own hand. 

The giving of the law was by no means an 
53 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

insignificant thing in the estimation of heaven it- 
self — possibly but little less significant, than crea- 
tion ; for angels who have always exhibited a great 
interest in the affairs of men, who are said to 
have shouted for joy when the foundations of the 
earth were laid (Job 38: 7), were also in attend- 
ance, in an innumerable company upon the occa- 
sion of the giving of the law. Acts 7: 53. 

A Safe Standard. — Since the giving of the law, 
man possesses a safe standard of measurement. 
As he looks at the demands of the law, appro- 
priating each item to his own heart and life, he 
may comprehend with certainty, his estrangement 
from God, and his need of help. As he beholds 
the lightning's flashing about the summit of the 
mount of the law; and hears the rolling thunder 
until it makes the earth beneath him tremble; he 
realizes as he otherwise never would have done, 
his own guilt and the justice of God. If this is 
the moral standard required by God, can man 
keep it ? Nay, the very first thing which happened 
to the tables of the law, even before being brought 
into the camp of Israel, was, they were broken. 
The tables of stone were, however, not the first to 
be broken; for the law which they contained was 
evidently being broken, while yet the finger of God 
was writing it out; for, when Moses came down 
from the mount, bearing the tables of the law ; be- 

54 



Christ and the Law 

hold, Israel was worshipping the golden calf. The 
God of heaven was forgotten, and his law broken. 
Appropriately did Moses cast the tables to the 
ground, and brake them; for their very first com- 
mandment was already broken. 

The Purpose of Divine Law. — Did God expect 
Israel to keep the law? If it was impossible to 
keep the law, was God just in giving it? These 
are questions which appear on the surface, some- 
what difficult; but, let us hold aside the curtain, 
and investigate a little further, God's purpose in 
the giving of the law. 

God did not only give the law, which Israel 
could not keep, and which no man, alone, who was 
merely man, has ever been able to keep; but, he 
gave Jesus Christ, the Divine man who was the 
first to keep the law; and who became the Re- 
deemer of man-kind. His gift to the world in 
Christ, however, could not be properly estimated 
and valued until man possessed a positive standard 
of measurement, by which he could ascertain his 
true condition. Hence, as he saw flashing about 
his own head the lightnings of justice; and felt 
beneath his own feet the tremblings of judgment; 
he awoke to his need of mercy and help, to the 
measure that heaven alone could give. 

Were the New Testament scriptures silent, in 
reference to the relation of the law to Christ; to 

55 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

us it would appear that the relationship is suffi- 
ciently plain. But, New Testament writers, do 
not leave us to speculate, concerning this relation, 
whatever. 

Law Arraigns the Whole Human Family. — 
Paul says in Romans 3: 19, 20: "Now we know 
that what things soever the law saith, it saith to 
them who are under the law: that every mouth 
may be stopped, and all the world may become 
guilty before God." This is indeed a remarkable 
and picturesque setting forth of the office of the 
law. It is, evidently, that attribute of the infinite, 
which we know as justice; which arraigns the 
whole human family before the tribunal of Al- 
mighty God. Here, as one by one, an assembled 
universe stands before the court of judgment, and 
is measured by the standard of that divine law, he 
becomes speechless, every mouth becomes silent; 
and in the very silence of that hour, is by the law, 
pronounced guilty. Consequently, the law was 
not intended as an instrument of justification, but 
of conviction and guilt. It is the expression of 
God's justice: Christ is the expression of his love 
and mercy. They both proceed from the same 
divine source, and bear an inseparable relation to 
each other. 

The same great exponent of divine truth, again 
says: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the 

56 



Christ and the Law 

works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, 
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we 
might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not 
by the works of the law : for by the works of the 
law shall no flesh be justified." Gal. 2:16. 
Again, we read: "For the law made nothing per- 
fect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by 
the which we draw nigh unto God." Heb. 7: 19. 

In the above scriptures, it is repeatedly stated ; 
that, by the law, none shall be justified. This 
would be impossible ; for, man in his fallen condi- 
tion, could not keep the law. If he could have 
done so, he might have been justified by it. 

Law a Disciplinarian — Paul in Galatians 
3 : 24-27, in a forceful manner, shows the relation 
between the law and Christ, when he says: 
"Wherefore the law was our school-master to 
bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified 
by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no 
longer under a school-master. For ye are all the 
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." The 
word used here, in the original Greek text, ?rai8- 
aywyos, is scarcely translated strong enough in the 
Authorized Version, as "school-master," nor in the 
American Version, where it is translated "tutor." 
It might better be translated, a child-leader, or a 
disciplinarian. It does not mean an instructor or 
teacher, simply; but a person, to whom is entrusted 

57 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

the care of a child; and who by rigid discipline, 
compels the child to attend to the means of in- 
struction provided. So the law is a disciplinarian ; 
who does by its rigid discipline compel men to 
attend to the means of grace, provided in salvation 
by Jesus Christ. 

Again, we are told: "For what the law could 
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God 
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, 
and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the 
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, 
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 
Rom. 8:3, 4. Christ fulfilled the law, by keeping 
it to the letter; which no man had ever done; and 
which he could not have done, if he had been mere 
human. He is the end of the law, because, when 
the individual is led to Christ, by the law, which 
is his child-leader, the office of the law ceases. 
Not that the moral standard of the law is put 
aside; for it is only then that the moral standard 
of the law can be kept, and that by means of an 
appropriation of the merits of Christ, the Divine 
man ; who had lived up to the letter of the law. 

Law and Grace Operative in Both Dispensa- 
tions. — The former dispensation, was that of law : 
this dispensation is pre-eminently that of grace. 
However, grace was not inoperative in the old 
dispensation, neither is law inoperative in the new. 

58 



Christ and the Law 

It is evident that grace was available in the old 
dispensation, even from the moment of the prom- 
ise of Christ in Eden, and the law is still that 
under which the individual lives, who has not been 
led to obtain divine merit, in the sacrificial work 
of Jesus Christ; and that standard of righteous- 
ness, to which the individual measures, who has 
appropriated the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It 
is a mistake to assume that we have nothing to do 
with the law. The boundary between law and 
grace is not marked by any objective, historical 
event; but, by a subjective application of the blood 
of Jesus Christ to the needs of the soul. Even 
then, the law may be said to be the objective 
standard of righteousness. Sinai's law should be 
thundered forth in no uncertain tones until every 
straying son of Adam has been made safe in the 
arms of an all-sufficient Savior, or probation is 
ended, and the blood avails no more. 

A Third Copy Being Written. — The third copy 
of God's law, is now being written. This time, 
not on tables of stone; but, again as at the first, 
upon the hearts of men. As before, it is an exact 
transcript of God's own nature, consequently, 
identical with the two former copies. The process 
employed is not creation, but redemption; but, 
when it is finished, the copy will be as perfect and 
complete upon the heart of man as it was when 

59 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

man first came from the creative hand of his 
maker. 

It is the second copy, which was graven upon 
stone, with its corresponding likeness, in the per- 
son of the Divine man, which disclosed what the 
first copy contained, and what the third copy, now 
being written, will contain. 

The Most Exalted Requirement of the Law. — 
Every item of the law, is wise and good; but, be- 
yond question, the highest and most exalted re- 
quirement of the law is contained in the following 
words, which are not arbitrary or independent of 
the decalogue; but in a certain very real sense, a 
summary of it: "Be ye holy; for I am holy/' Lev. 
ii : 44 and i Peter i : 16. 

This most exalted requirement of the law is 
provided for in the fullest measure by grace, for 
it is written: "In whom we have redemption 
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, accord- 
ing to the riches of his grace. " Eph. i : 7. Also, 
"Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify 
(or make holy) the people with his own blood, 
suffered without the gate." Heb. 13: 12. 

Law and Grace not Rivals.— Remarkable re- 
quirement of sinful, helpless man! One which 
would forever remain beyond his own possibility. 
Injustice for God to demand the impossible, of his 
creatures. But when viewed in the light of revela- 

60 



Christ and the Law 

tion, law and grace, which may have appeared as 
rival or antagonistic, are seen to be side compan- 
ions; each playing well its part in the great plan 
of human redemption. In other words: law re- 
veals to man what he ought to be, but what he is 
not: Grace reveals the possibility of being, in 
Christ, that which is required by the most exalted 
of heaven's demands — holiness of heart, and sin- 
lessness of life. 

This, then, is the true interpretation of the 
law. It not only indicates what the first copy was; 
but, what the third copy shall be. In the writing 
of the third copy, heaven has bent low; and the 
whole redemptive scheme is involved. Wonderful 
as it may appear; this is only in keeping with the 
divine promise, which says : "This is the covenant 
that I will make with them after those days, saith 
the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and 
in their minds will I write them; and their sins 
and iniquities will I remember no more." Heb. 
10: 16-17. 



61 




CHAPTER IV 
Christ in the Sanctuary 

[N attempt to discuss Old Testament 
symbolism in its completeness would be 
a great task. To do justice to such an 
undertaking would require a large vol- 
ume, for the Old Testament abounds 
in figures and symbols. Every one of these, points 
to the Messiah and his atoning work. 

Much time could be profitably spent in con- 
sidering the Ark a symbol of Christ, Isaac a type 
of Christ, Moses a type of Christ, Solomon a 
type of Christ. We might stop and gaze at the 
Psalmist's "Bright and Morning Star," and Mal- 
achi's "Sun of Righteousness." We might ex- 
amine Isaiah's "Root of Jesse" as it sprouts forth 
in new life, or pause to behold the beauty and 
breathe the fragrance of Solomon's "Rose of 
Sharon and Lily of the Valley." These and many 
others are symbolical expressions prefiguring va- 
rious aspects of the work and character of the 
Savior of Mankind. 

62 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

We have chosen however, for our treatment 
the highly expressive symbol relative to Christ and 
his work, the Sanctuary. This is no doubt the 
most comprehensive type in the Old Testament. 
The Temple of Solomon might have been selected 
with about the same propriety as it was built after, 
the pattern of the Tabernacle except twice as large 
in dimensions and more substantial and mag- 
nificent, but since the Tabernacle was planned and 
arranged by God himself, and possessed a sim- 
plicity not found in the Temple, it constitutes the 
most appropriate and expressive symbol. 

There are not a few who are indifferent to 
the Old Testament Scriptures, looking upon them 
as a meaningless or at least mysterious affair with 
which they need have little concern. This is a 
mistake. Here are rich fields for exploration, deep 
wells from which to draw living sparkling truths 
and sublime heights of heavenly wisdom to be 
scaled. Have you beheld the Christ of the New 
Testament? Have you found the gushing foun- 
tain head or have you been dizzied by that tower- 
ing mount of wisdom? Has your heart been 
crushed beneath his sufferings and made to rejoice 
because of his love? Each of these sublime ex- 
cellencies has been anticipated by the symbols of 
the earlier scriptures. 

As we approach the Sanctuary in our study, we 

63 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

are made to feel that a special design is before us, 
especially when we take into account the circum- 
stances which gave birth to its existence. It was 
during a forty days stay on Mount Sinai that 
Moses received the specifications and plans for its 
construction. They were given by God himself 
in minutest detail; not only as to size and shape 
but as to the material to be used in each part. The 
Lord not only in the beginning insisted that Moses 
should carefully adhere to the design that he 
would show to him, but in the very midst of the 
plans as though a slight variation might be pos- 
sible, he again said to Moses: "And look thou 
that thou make them after their pattern, which 
was shewed thee in the mount." Exodus 25 : 40. 
Observing the exactions which were made of 
Moses by the Lord in reference to the Sanctuary, 
it would be natural to expect something of special 
significance. Our expectancy is exalted still more 
when we discover that so strong was the purpose 
of the Lord to have these designs and specifica- 
tions minutely executed that when it came to their 
execution he called and inspired with a special 
wisdom, a chief workman for the task. Exodus 

New Testament Authority for Spiritual Inter- 
pretation. — In reference to the spiritual import of 
our symbol we rest on New Testament authority 

64 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

for our Interpretation. The Book of Hebrews 
appears as a veritable commentary on the Sanc- 
tuary of the Old Testament. In it the sacred 
writer says, in reference to the Tabernacle: 
"Which was a figure (TrapapoXr)) for the time 
then present, in which were offered both gifts and 
sacrifices, that could not make him that did the 
service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 
which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers 
washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them 
until the time of reformation. But Christ being 
come an high priest of good things to come, by a 
greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with 
hands, that is to say, not of this building. Neither 
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own 
blood he entered in once into the holy place, 
having obtained eternal redemption for us." He- 
brews 9 : 9-12. 

The same writer speaking of the priestly 
service of the Tabernacle says that it was a shadow 
(o-Kta) of heavenly things. Heb. 8:5, and to 
prove further that it stood for heavenly realities, 
quotes the language of the Lord to Moses, re- 
corded in Exodus 25 : 40, and given above — "See 
that thou make all things according to the pattern, 
(tuVos, type) shewed to thee in the mount." 

Again we are told: "And almost all things are 
by the law purged with blood; and without shed- 

5 65 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

ding of blood is no remission. It was therefore 
necessary that the patterns ( woSety/mra ) of things 
in the heavens should be purified with these; but 
the heavenly things themselves with better sacri- 
fices than these. For Christ is not entered into 
the holy places made with hands, which are the 
figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to 
appear in the presence of God for us. Hebrews 
9 : 22-24. 

A summing up of the expressions made con- 
cerning the Tabernacle, will assist in arriving at a 
proper conclusion of its spiritual import and real 
significance. 

In the first scripture the sanctuary is called a 
figure, 7ro.paf3o\r), parable. The Greek work used 
here is defined as a thing serving as a figure for 
something else. 

In the second scripture both shadow, o-kul and 
type, twos are used. Thayer defines o-Kta, shadow, 
to be: an image cast by an object and representing 
the form of that object. "A two?, type," says 
Dr. Morehead, "is an image or representation of 
something yet future." 

In the last scripture the term woSety/xaTa, pat- 
tern, is used. This term is defined as a figure or 
a copy. 

Now since the services of the Tabernacle were 
a parable of the true sacrifice to be made in Christ, 

66 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

an image cast by a real object, which was declared 
to be of a heavenly nature, but which lay in the 
future, and a copy of things in the heavens, we are 
not lacking in evidence that the great redeeming 
work of Christ was that for which the Sanctuary 
stood, 

A Twofold Manifestation of God. — To this 
another unique evidence might be added: 

Going back to the original purpose for which 
God commanded the Sanctuary to be made, we find 
that it was in order that he might dwell among 
his people. Ex. 25: 8. This Sanctuary was not 
only a symbol of God's presence but the place of 
his real spiritual presence among his people, in 
the Old Dispensation. In connection with this fact 
let us note a prophecy relating to the new dis- 
pensation: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and 
bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." 
Isa. 7: 14. When the angel appeared to Joseph 
to relieve his perplexed and troubled mind, he 
quoted this prophecy and further gave the inter- 
pretation of the Hebrew compound, Immanuel, 
declaring it to mean, God with us. Regardless 
of the language which the angel spake, he must 
have been familiar with this Hebrew word of 
prophecy for he gave its exact interpretation. 
Hence the Sanctuary was God with his people 
in the Old Dispensation and Jesus Christ is God 

67 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

with his people in this dispensation. The one 
and great purpose of Christ in the world was that 
of redemption. The Sanctuary was the largest 
revelation that God saw best to give of himself 
in that age, but in the "fulness of time," he gave 
the greater manifestation of himself in the per- 
son of his Son, whose coming ushered in the full 
day after the dim twilight of the Old Dispensation. 
Jesus is really God spelled out to the world. This 
fact in itself makes a close connection between the 
Sanctuary and the redeeming work of Christ. 

Another Connecting Link Another connect- 
ing link between the two dispensations is seen in 
the transfiguration of Christ. Here Moses a rep- 
resentative of the law and Elijah a representative 
of the prophets appeared unto him and conversed 
with him. St. Luke tells us that they spake with 
him concerning the decease which he should ac- 
complish at Jerusalem, (St. Luke 9:31) evidently 
referring to his death, the means of man's re- 
demption. This incident testifies to Old Testa- 
ment interests in the redeeming work of the Son 
of God. 

A Significant Statement. — Furthermore Jesus 
himself gave from his lips a significant statement 
bearing directly upon this inquiry. To the Jews 
who professed to be followers of Moses but were 
denying him, he said: "There is one that ac- 

68 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

cuseth you, even Moses in whom ye trust. For 
had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed 
me: for he wrote of me." St. John 5:45-46. 
Thus Jesus put the stamp of authority upon the 
messianic interpretation of the Pentateuch. Our 
records of the Sanctuary are of Mosaic author- 
ship, which Sanctuary grandly prefigures or typi- 
fies Jesus Christ in his great work of redemp- 
tion. It was but a pattern of the real tabernacle 
which the Lord pitched and not man. Heb. 8 : 2. 
As result of the foregoing study of the spir- 
itual significance of the Sanctuary the natural con- 
clusion would be that inasmuch as the command 
for, and specifications of the Sanctuary were given 
from heaven, The Lord must have intended that 
each complete part should be expressive of some 
great truth to be fully revealed in Christ. 

A General View of the Tabernacle and 
Its Court 

Before entering these sacred walls we should 
take a little general survey of the institution and 
then proceed to the more specific. 

The outer court of the Tabernacle was an 
oblong roofless space one hundred cubits long and 
fifty cubits wide, enclosed by pillars of brass five 
cubits apart, upon which canvas screen was hung. 
The cubit has had a variety of lengths and it is 

69 ' 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

somewhat difficult to determine the exact meas- 
urements in connection with the Sanctuary. Dr. 
Smith in his Old Testament History uses the 
eighteen inch cubit, and for convenience at least 
we will adopt the same. This would make the 
court of the Tabernacle about one hundred and 
fifty feet long and seventy-five feet wide. 

To the rear of the court which stood with its 
length East and West, with its opening to the 
East, stood the Tabernacle. It was about forty- 
five feet long, fifteen feet wide and fifteen feet 
high, possibly to the square. It was made of 
boards of acacia wood overlaid with gold, standing 
upright. They stood edge to edge and had tenons 
at the lower ends which were fitted into sockets of 
silver. The corners were coupled with rings. The 
roof was made of layers of rams' skins dyed red 
and of badgers' skins. These were in all prob- 
ability stretched across a ridge pole which gave it 
the necessary shape and slope. 

In the rear of the tabernacle whose first room 
was called the Holy Place separated by a curtain 
or veil, was a room ten cubits each way and ten 
cubits high — a perfect cube about fifteen feet each 
way. This was called The Most Holy Place or 
The Holy of Holies, for here Jehovah's presence 
dwelt. 

Each of these three apartments will be found 
70 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

to have their special significance when we consider 
them separately and specifically. 

The Outer Court 

Having been assured that the institution which 
we are studying a thing of heavenly planning, 
and constructed according to specifications divinely 
given and faithfully adhered to, let us enter in 
and with a careful observation and prayerful heart, 
hear the messages of truth that are spoken from 
its sacred walls. 

While it is no doubt true that few in the 
day of the Sanctuary, had more than a faint idea 
or limited conception of its spiritual significance, 
it is also evident that to some it was given to 
understand at least a part of the message which it 
spoke. To us who stand upon the very mountain 
peak of history and fulfilled prophecy, it appears 
as a concrete object lesson — a message of the 
Christ in the fulness of his love and redeeming 
power. To us the real Tabernacle has been 
pitched, the Great High Priest has come; the 
offering has been made, and the Holy Place has 
been made accessible. Because of these facts we 
are in a better position to enjoy our proposed visit 
in this most interesting of institutions. 

The court was a complete enclosure excepting 
to the East, where entrance must be gained if at 

7i 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

all. This entrance was overhanged with "fine 
twined linen" wrought with needle work and of 
gorgeous colors. Fine twined linen was no doubt 
as truly representative of the righteousness of 
Christ as of saints. The colors were blue, purple 
and scarlet. Says Mcintosh: Blue was significant 
of the heavenly character of Christ, being the 
etherial color, purple represented his royalty and 
scarlet his sufferings. This single entrance with 
its significant colors, was but an illustration of the 
truth expressed by the words of Jesus: "I am the 
door" St. John 10:9, and "I am the way, the 
truth, and the life : no man cometh unto the Father 
but by me." St. John 14: 6. 

The Brazen Altar — As we push the curtain 
aside and step in, the first object which meets the 
eye is the brazen altar, for this was immediately 
on the inside of the entrance to the court. It was 
five cubits square and three cubits high; made of 
acacia wood and overlaid with brass. A grate of 
brass was fitted into it upon which the sacrifice was 
laid to be consumed. At each corner of the altar a 
horn was made of the same material. Ex. 38 : 1-4. 
It is said that the animal of sacrifice was fastened 
to one of these horns while it was being slain. It 
was this altar to which penitents fled when in 
danger of death at the hand of an enemy, hoping 
that by catching hold of the horns of the altar, 

72 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

mercy might be found. The horns of the altar 
became among the Jews a symbolical expression 
of mercy of which prophets spoke and psalmists 
sang. 

Having entered we are at once conscious that 
we have come by the identical curtain which was 
drawn aside to permit the ancient Israelite to enter 
with his animal of sacrifice to offer unto the Lord. 
He must be conscious of his sin for he lays his 
hands upon the head of the animal and in this 
way, his guilt is transferred to it and it is slain. 
As he beholds the smoke of his offering arising 
from the altar, there must steal over him a deep 
sense of gratitude for mercies divinely given ; and 
as he sees the flesh of his own sacrifice reduced to 
ashes he must recognize it as a message of deepest 
assurance that his sins have been cancelled at the 
price of innocent blood. 

How significant of the perfect sacrifice — Jesus 
Christ, who was offered once and for all. With- 
out the shedding of blood there is no remission 
is the secret of human redemption. "Neither is 
there salvation in any other: for there is none 
other name under heaven given among men, 
whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12. The 
sinner need not now lead to the altar of burnt 
offerings an animal by whose blood he hopes for 
absolution, but with empty hands he may pass 

IS 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

beyond the curtain of gorgeous colors, and there 
by faith behold his victim tied to the horns of the 
altar, and having received upon himself, though 
innocent and spotless, his sins, submit to the death 
blow and be wholly consumed on the altar of Di- 
vine Justice. Could the Israelite place trust in his 
offering? How much more canst thou, whose 
offering is a perfect one and of which his was but 
the imperfect symbol? Let the penitent sinner 
step within the curtain and behold what a message 
of mercy. Without there is no assurance; within 
there is no uncertainty. 

The great mass of Jewish worshippers never 
entered beyond the outer court but the chosen ones 
— the priests passed beyond into the Tabernacle, — 
the Holy Place. It was on the brazen altar that 
all the sacrifices which were mentioned in the pre- 
vious chapter were offered, and the common peo- 
ple could go only so far as to the door of the 
Tabernacle itself. It is true that many penitent 
worshippers still stop at the altar of pardon and 
proceed no further, but the Lord dwells in the 
Holy Place and it is into his presence that we 
would come. In the Old Dispensation it was only 
the high priest who would dare to come into the 
Holy of Holies where God then dwelt, and that 
only once a year with the blood of offerings, but 
there appeared one who was a High Priest of 

7 6 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

heaven's own order who had received the anoint- 
ing from above; who when he appeared at the 
mercy seat, presented an offering so perfect, that 
the very veil was rent which hid away the glory 
of God and in a real sense the Holy of Holies was 
brought into the Holy Place and the two became 
one. So far at least as earth is concerned, the 
high priesthood was abolished, and every priest 
was made eligible to stand in the very presence of 
God. But strange as it may appear this dispensa- 
tion has no common people so far as the church is 
concerned except those who are voluntarily such 
by refusing to submit to the provisions of salva- 
tion in a full sense, consequently are not permitted 
to enter the Holy Place. To all such as are will- 
ing to appropriate every merit of salvation, pro- 
vided in Jesus Christ, the Holy Place is accessible. 
Heaven appears to have manifested no disposition 
to repair the broken veil and the church of Christ 
has access to the very mercy seat, for every 
member of it is a priest in the House of God. 
Says St. Peter in addressing the church : "Ye are a 
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy 
nation." I Peter 2:9. From the Book of Rev- 
elation we read: "And hath made us kings and 
priests unto God and his Father.'' Rev. 1 : 6, and 
5: 10. Consequently there was not a ceremonial 
privilege permitted to the priest of the Old Dis- 

77 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

pensation, which the priests of God do not have 
the privilege of enjoying in a real and spiritual 
sense now. So taking advantage of her priestly 
prerogative, the Church may dwell in the Holy 
Place. 

The Laver — As the priest approached the 
Tabernacle proper, leaving the brazen altar, he 
had to pass the brazen laver. This contained 
water for the cleansing of the hands and feet of 
the priests, which must not be neglected upon the 
penalty of death. He dare not come into the 
presence of the Lord without being ceremonially 
clean. Again a very significant furnishing. They 
of God's royal priesthood, will find between the 
altar of pardon and the Holy Place, a laver which 
dare not be passed by, upon the penalty of spir- 
itual death, for "Without holiness no man shall 
see the Lord." Heb. 12:14. He must not be only 
ceremonially clean but effectually so: Not only 
hands and feet but heart as well. Does that priest 
pause at the laver? What doth he behold? He 
finds that the laver contains for him a cleansing, 
yea more than water for more than water is neces- 
sary for a moral cleansing. It contains for him 
blood, which flowed from the pierced side of him 
who died as a sacrifice for the world. Is it effica- 
cious? Yea, it is really blood. As he pauses by 
the laver he hears a voice praying: "Father sane- 

78 




THE LAYER. 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

tify them in thy truth: thy word is truth," and 
"For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they them- 
selves also may be sanctified in truth. St. John 
17: 17 and 19. A. V. He also hears another 
say: "Jesus also that he might sanctify the people 
with his own blood suffered without the gate." 
Heb. 13 : 12. Neither does he look upon it as a 
demand made unjustly but as a necessary, expen- 
sive provision arising out of absolute necessity. 

The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5 : 25-27, rep- 
resents the church as a bride being made ready 
for the coming of the bridegroom. The cere- 
monial cleansing of a bride in Jewish customs is 
also provided for the spiritual Bride — the church 
but in a real and effectual manner. Here the laver 
appears as the instrument of sanctification. A lit- 
eral but picturesque rendering of these verses 
would be: "Husbands love your wives just as 
Christ also loved the church and gave himself for 
the sake of her, in order that he might sanctify 
her having cleansed her in the laver of water 
in the word, in order that he might stand along- 
side of himself a glorious church, not having spot 
or wrinkle or any such thing, but in order that 
she might be pure and without blame." 

In Titus 3:5, we have the term: "washing 
of regeneration," which literally translated is, 
"laver of regeneration." In both of these cases 

6 81 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

the laver of the Sanctuary is no doubt the figure 
referred to. It represents the subjective side of 
the divine work of grace which is wrought in the 
heart, while the brazen altar represents the objec- 
tive work of justification which makes just in the 
sight of God. Consequently we make no mistake 
in viewing the laver of the Sanctuary as a symbol 
of cleansing or sanctification, for in a true sense, 
sanctification is all that work of grace which is 
wrought subjectively in man. Hence the laver 
symbolizes the sanctification of the heart, wrought 
by the agency of the Holy Spirit, using as the 
means the atoning blood of Christ. 

The foot of the laver was made of mirrors- 
pieces of brass, which were polished into looking- 
glasses and were used by the women. Into these 
mirrors which constituted the foot of the laver the 
priest could look and ascertain his uncleanness and 
prove his cleansing, having applied the contents 
of the laver. Even so the very vessel which con- 
tains heaven's cleansing, is the word of truth. 
This is beautifully set forth or expressed in the 
correct rendering of the two previous scriptures, 
St. John 17 : 17, 19 and Eph. 5 : 25-27, where the, 
word in is correctly used instead of by and 
through. 

This word too, is not lacking in its mirror pro- 
vision. In contrast to the mirror in which the 

82 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

natural man beholds himself, and straightway 
goeth his way and forgetteth what manner of man 
he was, it is a perfect mirror into which if any 
man looks; regardless of a rude countenance of 
sin, self-painted cheeks or morality or heaven's pro- 
vided heart purity, he will see himself, not as the 
world sees him but as he is in the eyes of God. 
The Priestly Anointing. — Important as the 
sanctifying or cleansing side of the Holy Spirit's 
work, symbolized by the laver, may be, there is 
another aspect of his work symbolized by the 
ceremonial consecration of the priest as well as 
the high priest. Both were anointed with holy 
oil before they were permitted to minister in the 
Holy Place. Ex. 30 : 30 and Lev. 8 : 30. An- 
ointing with oil is symbolical of the anointing of 
the Holy Spirit. The cleansing represents the 
putting off, the anointing the putting on. S. D. 
Gordon says that "anointing" is the power word, 
but the positive or anointing of the Spirit has its 
corresponding negative in the cleansing. Both of 
these aspects were inseparably united in the con- 
secration of the priesthood. So the priesthood of 
this dispensation will find combined in their con- 
secration, a negative and a positive — an empty- 
ing and a filling — a putting off and a putting on. 
These together with the robing of righteousness 

83 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

constitute the credential of the priesthood of today 
as well as of that of the Old Dispensation. 

Just a few words in this connection concerning 
the messianic aspect of the high-priest and his 
anointing will be in keeping. The anointing of 
Aaron as high-priest was a copious one. The oil 
ran down upon his beard even upon his garments. 
Psalms 133:2. Jesus, the only high priest of 
this dispensation was inducted into his office by a 
copious out-pouring of the Holy Spirit upon him 
at his baptism, when the very heavens were 
opened and the Father himself witnessed to his 
Divine Sonship. To this anointing, he himself 
witnessed, when at Nazareth, he delivered his 
first sermon, having selected for his text Isa. 
61 : 1-2. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon 
me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach 
good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to 
bind up the broken hearted, and to proclaim lib- 
erty to the captives, and the opening of the prison 
to them that are bound; to proclaim the accept- 
able year of the Lord." Having read this text he 
closed the book and sat down and declared to those 
who were present: "This day is this scripture ful- 
filled in your ears." Luke 4:21. 

The Priestly Investiture. — The investiture of 
the high priest is also significant. Two things 
stand out conspicuously. The mitre constituted 

84 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

the head covering. Across this mitre on the front 
was a plate of pure gold with the inscription: 
"Holiness to the Lord." Ex. 28 : 36. What 
the high priest was symbolically, Jesus was in 
reality. Holiness was his essential character. 

Then there was the breast plate and the 
shoulder pieces. Upon the breast plate were 
placed twelve precious stones, each one bearing 
the name of a tribe of Israel. The shoulder pieces 
contained precious stones, one on each shoulder. 
On each of these stones were engraven the names 
of six tribes of Israel. Ex. 28:10 and 21. Hence 
in his priestly functions the high priest bore upon 
his breast and shoulders the whole nation of Is- 
rael. Even so Jesus in his mediatorial work, has 
borne every individual of his people upon his 
own heart and shoulders into the very presence of 
God. 

The Holy Place. — Having made application 
of the contents of the laver and having received 
the anointing of holy oil, the priest may pass on 
through the curtain of the Tabernacle into the 
Holy Place. This curtain, as well as the one at 
the entrance to the court, was made of fine twined 
linen in colors blue, purple and scarlet; again 
witnessing that Jesus Christ is the only door lead- 
ing into the presence of God. He alone makes the 
throne accessible. Dr. Smith understands that 

85 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

the whole inside covering of the Tabernacle was of 
these same colors. Having entered into the Holy 
Place new furnishings are to be seen. It may 
make but little difference which of the articles of 
the furniture of the Holy Place engages our atten- 
tion first. They are separated from the Holy of 
Holies or the immediate presence of God by a veil 
but are spoken of as being before the Lord. 

It is observed by all who carefully study the 
arrangement of the Sanctuary that when God gave 
to Moses the designs of the furniture, he began 
with the ark itself, and proceeded from the Most 
Holy Place outward, until the last piece was de- 
signed being that of the brazen altar. We have 
noted however that the brazen altar was the first 
to engage our attention. This speaks to us the 
fact that the sinner could not approach into the 
presence of God, but that God proceeded step by 
step from the Most Holy Place until he had 
reached the brazen altar of sacrifice. Here he 
could proceed no further but his last step placed 
him within access of the sinner, who meets him 
at the altar. 

The Golden Altar. — But we are contemplating 
the furnishings of the Holy Place and as a matter 
of convenience we will direct our attention to the 
Golden Altar or Altar of Incense. It was made 
of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold. It was a 

86 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

cubit square and two cubits high, with horns cor- 
responding somewhat to the horns of the brazen 
altar. It stood possibly in the center of the Tab- 
ernacle, immediately before the ark, separated 
from it by the veil. Here night and morning, the 
priest burns a sweet incense of the Lord's own 
compounding. No fire save that taken from the 
altar of burnt offerings dare be used. He becomes 
an intercessor. It is in the Holy Place that the 
priests of the Lord still offer, upon the golden 
altar of prayer, sweet incense unto him. It is 
here where he has access to the holy fire which is 
constantly burning. Here his heart goes up in a 
continuous devotion upon the wings of a heavenly 
consuming. It is the sweet incense of true wor- 
ship in whose aroma is mingled penitence, conse- 
cration and trust. 

Reconciliation at the altar of pardon is the 
first essential step in the approach toward God. 
Sanctification or cleansing is the next in the Divine 
arrangement, but both are indispensable and ante- 
cedent to an unbroken fellowship at the golden 
altar of incense. Although the attitude assumed 
at the golden altar was pre-eminently that of wor- 
ship, it sustained a close relation to the altar of 
burnt offerings for it was the fire taken from this 
altar which sent heavenward the sweet incense and 
furthermore the blood of the offering consumed 

87 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

on the altar of burnt offerings, was occasionally 
sprinkled upon the horns of the golden altar. 
There could be no golden altar without a brazen 
one. It is only by approaching the Divine Pres- 
ence upon the merits of the atonement, that the 
saintliest worshipper can offer an acceptable devo- 
tion. How unlike much of the pretentious wor- 
ship of our day, with its bloodless religion of 
morality. No sacrifice, no blood, no atonement. 
As we pause beside that golden altar and note its 
coals of fire and blood-besprinkled horns, it speaks 
to us an exhortation of great import: "Let a holy 
fire be kept burning upon the altar of thine heart 
and forget not the blood, the price of thy redemp- 
tion." 

The Candlestick. — To the left of the taber- 
nacle stool the golden candlestick with its seven 
arms made of pure beaten gold, very fine. At 
least one of the candles was to be kept burning 
continuously being replenished by pure olive oil 
which was ever at hand. The significance of the 
golden candlestick with its seven arms is not a diffi- 
cult one to solve. 

It is fortunate for the student of sacred things 
that the Bible frequently serves as its own com- 
mentator and is a most infallible one. 

As truly as does the tree of life which stood 
in Eden accessible to sinless man but guarded by 

88 




THE CANDLESTICK. 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

cherubim and flaming swords from sinful man, 
appear again by the river of life in the heavenly 
condition, (Rev. 22:2) so this symbolic candle- 
stick appears again in its living reality. Rev. 
1: 12. In this instance it is spoken of as seven 
candlesticks, but beyond doubt it was this Jewish 
imagery which was reviewed. A candlestick with 
seven arms or light bearers is in a practical sense 
identical with seven candlesticks. He who walked 
among the candlesticks, who appeared like unto 
"The Son of Man," himself gives the interpreta- 
tion of the vision, which is this : The seven candle- 
sticks are the seven churches. The number seven 
is the perfect number; not numerically the whole 
number of churches, but the symbolically perfect 
number of the Divine Ecclesia. 

In the first place the function or office of the 
candlestick should be taken into account. It is 
not a light but a light bearer. It is not a flame 
but an instrument from which a flame issues. It 
is not a source but a medium of light. So the 
church in the truest sense of the word is not a light 
but a light bearer. It is not a source of light but 
a medium of light. It is composed of individuals 
and its light can shine no brighter than that of 
its individual members. No Christian however 
consecrated shines by his own light. The best 
that he can do is to serve as a candlestick or a 

9i 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

medium for divine light to shine through. There 
is a sense in which he may be said to be like the 
moon simply a light reflector shining back a bor- 
rowed light. When the bright rays of the "Sun 
of Righteousness" fall upon him, he reflects light 
to those of his universe, and in that secondary 
sense, he becomes a light, but at any moment that 
the rays of divine light are cut off there is an 
eclipse. 

Jesus said to his disciples : "Ye are the light 
of the world" and "Let your light so shine before 
men . . . etc." Matt. 5: 14 and 16. Paul ex- 
horted the Philippian Church to "shine as lights in 
the world" Phil. 2: 15. But Jesus also said: I 
am the light of the World. St. John 8:12. He 
is also declared to be "the true ( SXifiivbv, real) 
light which ligheth every man that cometh into 
the world." St. John 1:8. When the final con- 
clusion is reached, the christian or the church is 
no more than a candlestick, a medium by which 
light is made to shine out to the world. 

This truth is most beautifully represented in 
the vision which Zechariah had of the candle- 
stick. Not only was he permitted to see the light 
which the candlestick held, but the secret of that 
light was made plain to him. He saw a bowl 
upon the top of the candlestick, with pipes leading 
to the bowl from two living olive trees standing 

92 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

on either side of it. The angel summed up the 
meaning of the vision in these words: "Not by 
might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the 
Lord" Zechariah 4:6. This is the secret re- 
vealed. There is indeed a living, divine, source 
of grace — the grace of the Spirit, from which 
every member of the candlestick may draw, by 
which means he may become a flaming torch, so 
that he may be said to be a light in the world. 
The first question which should come to each of 
us is : Am I a member of the true candlestick, and 
the other not less important is : Am I keeping up a 
vital connection with the source of true light. 

Then too, the material of the candlestick is 
highly significant. All of the furniture of the 
Holy Place as well as of the Holy of Holies was 
made either entirely of pure gold or overlaid with 
pure gold. The candlestick was made of beaten 
gold, very fine. The cost of the Sanctuary with 
its furnishings is estimated at a sum equal to from 
one and a quarter to one and a half million of 
dollars in U. S. currency. The candlestick alone, 
contained a talent of gold which is equal in value 
to 26,280 dollars in our currency. Besides the 
costly material used, a great amount of labor was 
expended in its construction. Some might care- 
lessly criticize this apparent needless expense of 
wealth, but in view of the fact that the Sanctuary 

93 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

as a whole stood for God's redeeming presence in 
the world, the cost of the same is indeed a modest 
appropriation considering the value and worth 
which the institution symbolized. Also taking 
into account its relation to the greater manifesta- 
tion which God made of himself in the person of 
his Son, no sum can be looked upon as too great 
to have been expended in its construction. In the 
first place the Lord simply collected together a 
few handfuls of his earthly possessions to repre- 
sent him and to constitute his dwelling, but in 
the latter, the very resources of heaven were well 
nigh taxed to furnish a medium for his dwelling, 
sufficiently glorious. 

But of the material itself, in the candlestick, 
it may be said that it fittingly represents the true 
church, the light of the world. 

It was purified. So is the church of 
Jesus Christ. 

It was most precious or costly. The re- 
demption of the Church was purchased at 
an enormous, incalculable sum. 
It was most durable, retaining its stand- 
ard of purity and value. So the true 
church of Christ has stood and will stand 
all tests to which it may be submitted. 
It was the rarest of precious metals. 

94 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

Comparatively, very few appropriate 
heaven's provisions and meet heaven's re- 
quirements for a place in the candlestick 
— the church of Jesus Christ. 

Having made application of the symbol, as 
to its function and material we might simply again 
remind ourselves of its location. It was in the 
Holy Place that the candlestick stood, so every 
candlestick in his sanctuary today. Let every 
penitent hasten into the Holy Place. 

The Table of Shew Bread. — To the right of 
the Tabernacle stood the table of shew bread. It 
was two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and 
a half high. It was made of acacia wood and 
overlaid with pure gold. It contained the shew 
bread or "bread of presence" as Fairbairn and 
others term it. Also the drink offering — unfer- 
mented wine, pure grape juice. On this table were 
also kept the golden vessels used in making liba- 
tions, such as bowls, spoons, etc. The shew bread 
was made of an unleavened mixture, and the 
loaves or cakes numbered twelve, according to 
the twelve tribes of Israel, who were sharers in 
the covenant relation, and were to be eaten only 
by the priests. 

It is almost a surprising thing that we should 
find in the Holy Place, a table spread with food, 
but when we remember that true religion is not a 

95 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

cloak to be worn or an outward thing to be put 
on, but a living vital something which needs to 
be fed, it is after all no great surprise. 

In this connection we recall the discourse 
which Jesus delivered to the anxious multitudes, 
who thronged him daily on "the Bread of Life." 
To them he said: "I am the living bread which 
came down from heaven: if any man eat of this 
bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I 
will give is my flesh, which I will give for the 
life of the world. St. John 6:51. Also : "Verily, 
verily I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of 
the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have 
no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drink- 
eth my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise 
him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat 
indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." St. John 
6: 54-56. At this the Jews murmured and even 
some of his disciples said: "This is a hard saying; 
who can hear it" St. John 6 : 60. The body and 
blood of Christ in its atoning efficacy is as truly 
a means of life to the spiritual man, as bread and 
water to the physical man. 

Jesus well knew that this saying would always 
be a "hard" one — difficult for stupid men to 
understand, so before going away he embodied 
this great spiritual truth in a concrete object les- 
son for his disciples of all time. This he did 

96 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

by the institution of the sacrament. Taking bread 
and wine he blessed them and gave them to his 
disciples to eat, and to drink, declaring them to 
be his broken body and shed blood, thus giving 
to them a memorial of his sufferings and death. 

But here in the Sanctuary thousands of years 
before the coming of Christ, we find the identical 
articles of the sacrament upon the Lord's table. 
This would indeed be a remarkable co-incidence 
were it not true that the Sanctuary was, on the 
whole, a concrete lesson of God's redeeming pres- 
ence and power in the world. Consequently these 
emblems of the sacrament held a significant place 
in the Sanctuary, constituting the meat and drink 
of the priesthood and prefiguring the same event 
which was then in the future, which it now com- 
memorates as a fact of history. This is a beau- 
tiful lesson reminding us that with God, the fu- 
ture as well as the past, is ever present. 

The significance however, if another New 
Testament witness may be called in, does not con- 
fine itself to the death of Christ alone, for Paul 
says: "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink 
this cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till he 
come" I. Cor. 1 1 : 26. Hence the memorial is 
twofold in its nature. It points back to the suf- 
ferings of Christ upon the cross and at the same 
time, points forward to the time when he shall 

7 97 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

ride down on the clouds of the sky in great glory. 
It bespeaks his rejection, his humility and his 
sorrows, but also his kingship, his glory and his 
victory as well. Thus a twofold message is 
spoken to us by the bread and wine from within 
the Holy Place. 

It was within the Holy Place that the bread 
and wine were to be eaten and drunken, and they 
were to be the portion of the priesthood only. To 
every member of the spiritual priesthood this table 
is accessible. It is only in the Holy Place that it 
becomes meat and drink to do the will of God, and 
where the body and blood of Christ can be par- 
taken in a deeply spiritual sense. It is also here 
that the sacrament, which is the symbol of this 
spiritual food, can be understood in its fullest 
meaning, and the eye of faith can pierce the clouds 
and behold the descending Lord as well as the ear 
of faith can hear his dying groans. 

The Most Holy Place. 

Having examined each piece of furniture of 
the Holy Place, we may now push aside the cur- 
tain separating it from the Holy of Holies. This 
curtain is of the same material and color as the 
former ones only more sumptuous in its designs 
and perhaps heavier. Our eyes at once fall upon 
the furnishings of this most important chamber 

9 8 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

for we are now in the very presence of the God 
of the universe. The material of the furniture 
does not differ from that of the furnishings of 
the Holy Place just visited. Heaven itself could 
not provide a more appropriate symbol than pure 
gold, but it is the design and office of the fur- 
nishings which must engage our study. 

The Ark of the Covenant and Mercy Seat. — 
Here was the ark of the covenant. It was two 
cubits and a half long, one and a half wide and 
high, made of acacia wood and overlaid with 
pure gold. It originally contained the tables of 
the law, and later in it were placed the pot of 
manna and Aaron's rod that budded. 

Over the ark was the mercy seat, a covering 
just fitting the top, made of pure gold. From 
either end of the mercy seat, as though made of 
the same piece of material, arose a cherub. These 
cherubim had wings outstretched, so that the wings 
of the one touched the wings of the other cherub, 
thus completely over-shadowing the mercy seat. 
With bowed form they hovered above the mercy 
seat, the very place where God dwelt and where 
he could be met by his people in their represen- 
tative, the high priest. 

The ark was a receptacle for the tables of 
the law which we have seen in a previous chapter, 
to be but objective copies of God's own nature 

: 99 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

written on cold tables of stone, so that man could 
read them. Not only had this law been broken 
in a literal sense when Moses threw down the 
tables but in a moral way, from the very first of 
their giving, yea in advance. Cherubim appear 
to be an order or rank of the heavenly hierarchy, 
who are sent by God on errands of justice. Per- 
haps the only place where we have them men- 
tioned in scripture, except in symbol as here, is 
in connection with Eden. There we see them 
stationed at the entrance, to guard it from sinful, 
rebellious man who had been driven out but who 
might attempt to return. Here hovering above 
the mercy seat, with bowed form and piercing 
eyes, they guard as jealously the law of God as 
ever they did the entrance to Eden. Dr. Smith 
says: "The attitude of the cherubim was signifi- 
cant of the desire of angels to learn the Gospel 
mysteries that were hidden in the law." (Old 
Testament History, page 232). This would be- 
speak a merciful attitude of the angels instead of 
justice, but this is not contradictory, for in the 
great plan of redemption, justice and mercy blend. 
Even the office of the cherubim, guarding the en- 
trance to Eden, in a previous chapter, has been 
seen to be a mingling of mercy and justice. 

But we must not forget that we are in the very 
earthly habitation of the Lord: Our feet are 

100 




ARK OF COVENANT AND MERCY 
SEAT. 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

pressing places where only the high priest would 
dare to stand, for into the Most Holy Place only 
the high priest would dare to come and that only 
"once a year" with the blood of offerings for him- 
self and for the people. 

The Day of Atonement. — A little investigation 
of this "once-a-year" occurrence is necessary to a 
clear understanding of the Most Holy Place and 
its furniture, for the services of this particular 
occasion, were held more especially in regard to 
the mercy seat. It was called the "Day of Atone- 
ment." 

The day of atonement was the tenth day of 
Tisri, which was the seventh month of the sacred 
year. A number of sacrifices were made during 
the year but only in relation to the outer court, 
upon the brazen altar, or as in the evening and 
morning the burning of incense, upon the golden 
altar of the Holy Place. The blood of the im- 
perfect offerings made during the year, not being 
brought into the presence of Jehovah, it appears 
that an annual offering was necessary, at which 
time atonement was made in his very presence. 

The Scape Goat. — Upon this day the high 
priest brought for himself and his family, a young 
bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt 
offering. Having slain the bullock he took some 
of its blood, also a censer full of live coals, from 

103 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

off the altar and a handful of incense, and pro- 
ceeded into the Most Holy Place. Immediately 
upon entering he threw the incense upon the coals 
of fire, and while the Most Holy Place was filled 
with sweet odor and smoke, he sprinkled the blood 
of his offering seven times upon and before the 
mercy seat. He then withdrew to the door of 
the tabernacle where two goats were waiting. 
The one was slain and again the high priest en- 
tered the Most Holy Place and sprinkled the 
blood upon the mercy seat. Returning to the 
door of the tabernacle where the other goat was 
waiting, the high priest placed both hands firmly 
upon its head and confessed over it the sins and 
iniquities of the people, and then sent it away into 
the wilderness laden with its awful burden, the 
sins of the people. 

How significant : In the ark was the law which 
had been broken by Israel, but God out of justice 
must preserve his law unbroken. These were 
the second tables which he made, Moses having 
broken the first. Here was a righteous law mor* 
ally broken, with a God of justice dwelling above. 
How may man's guilt be hid away from the all- 
searching, all-piercing gaze of Omniscience? 
Symbolically there was only one way. The blood 
of the sacrifice was sprinkled upon the mercy seat, 
thus hiding away the broken law from the gaze 

104 



Christ in the Sanctuary 

of a righteous God. Effectually there is only 
one way: Jesus Christ the great High Priest en- 
tered into the Holy of Holies, and there sprin- 
kled his own blood as the blood of a perfect sac- 
rifice, upon the mercy seat, forever hiding away 
the broken law from the face of a righteous Law- 
giver. 

The New Testament Conception of the Scape 
Goat. — This figure is carried into the New Testa- 
ment conception of Christ. St, Paul says: 
"Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation 
through faith in his blood, to declare his right- 
eousness for the remission of sins that are past, 
through the forbearance of God." Romans 3:25. 
The word propitiation, as will be seen from the 
margin of the American Version might be read, 
Propitiatory, or place of propitiation. Retaining 
the figure referred to, the Greek word IXaa-Trjpiov is 
correctly rendered u mercy seat." So Christ was 
symbolized in a striking manner by the mercy 
seat, and by his own blood he has hid away the 
broken law from the face of God. 

Sometimes the question arises: why two goats 
as an offering? The same reason holds here as 
well as in the multiplicity of offerings in connec- 
tion with the brazen altar. No one imperfect 
offering could symbolize all the aspects of the re- 
deeming work of Christ: It required a great num- 

105 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

ber of them. So here the two goats were but dif- 
ferent aspects of the same sacrifice, not two sacri- 
fices. Not only was the sin covered by the blood 
of the slain goat, but the high priest came imme- 
diately out from the very presence of God and 
sent away Israel's sin upon the scape goat, none 
knew where, into a rocky wilderness; from which 
they would never be returned. Here is a twofold 
aspect of the pardoning work of Christ. Not only 
was his blood shed that there might be remission 
of sins, for without the shedding of blood there 
is no remission; but his sacrifice is at once a cov- 
ering for our sins and at the same time he is our 
scape-goat bearing them away into everlasting 
oblivion. 

To the student of the Greek Testament the 
idea of forgiveness always recalls the scene of the 
scape-goat for his Greek word a^jxi translated 
forgiveness is from Irj/u to send and d™ away 
and means to send away, and always carries with 
it the imagery of this ceremony connected with the 
day of atonement. 

That the mercy seat of the Most Holy Place 
sustained a close relation to the atoning work of 
Christ is evidenced by the historical fact that when 
Jesus died upon the cross, the veil or curtain sep- 
arating it from the Holy Place in the Temple, 
was rent from top to bottom, signifying that the 

106 



Christ in the Sanctuary- 
way into the very presence of God was made 
accessible to all. In a deeply spiritual sense, the 
priests of God are now permitted to live in his 
very presence, and behold his glory, being as- 
sured that the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ 
avails for them. That which hid away the face 
of God was the veil, but Jesus having forever 
reconciled God to man, heaven and earth have 
met in the rending of the veil. 

To those who have been consecrated to the 
spiritual priesthood the invitation comes: "Hav- 
ing therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the 
holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living 
way, which he hath consecrated for us, through 
the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an 
high priest over the house of God; Let us draw 
near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, 
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil con- 
science, and our bodies washed with pure water." 
Heb. 10: 19-22. 



107 




CHAPTER V 
The Christ of Prophecy 

RESENT day rationalistic thinking and 
liberal interpretation would possibly 
brand the subject of this chapter, with 
those of most of the chapters of the 
book, as entirely antiquated, and the 
author as belonging to the old school of inter- 
preters. To this criticism of the author, he cheer- 
fully confesses, with a keen sense of satisfaction; 
but he is not willing, that his subject should be 
placed in the museum of antiquity. In fact it has 
taken on new life and energy, as the result of an 
effort on the part of its enemies, for its burial. 
There is at this time, a strong tendency toward 
eliminating everything supernatual and messianic 
from the Old Testament Scriptures, and to explain 
the New Testament entirely upon the basis of the 
natural. This tendency is manifested with a great 
degree of boldness, in the periodicals of the day. 
Scarcely a page can be read without coming in 
touch with it. Even the daily papers with eager- 

108 



The Christ of Prophecy 

ness catch up the announcement, when some 
small, notoriety seeking preacher announces him- 
self to have abandoned the former ways of ortho- 
dox believing. By so doing, his name is seen to 
appear in bold head lines, and his photograph is 
given a place on the cheap secular page. These 
very things demand that the gospel trumpet have 
no uncertain sound, lest many be deceived. 

The Bible Still God's Message. — The Bible 
has stood the test of the ages, and still stands as 
God's great message to man. Although its 
authors have lived in many different centuries, and 
its last message was given almost two thousand 
years ago ; it is still more up to date than the latest 
magazine, or even the daily newspapers. The 
demand for it is increasing; and a competent 
writer not long since, said: "All the best selling 
books in the world put together, would not equal 
the yearly distribution of the Bible, and probably 
never will." Hence it is but the verdict of all 
the ages that the Bible is true; and any effort to 
dispute it, is but an exhibition of folly. What we 
desire in our investigation, is the testimony of 
the Word; and by it every problem shall find its 
final solution, and every question its indisputable 
answer. 

Messianic Revelation Progressive. — In our 
former chapters, we have found Christ in Eden, 

109 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

in the sacrificial system, bearing an inseparable 
relation to the law, and being fully pre-figured in 
his nature and redemptive work in the sanctuary. 
In this chapter we expect to find the Old Testa- 
ment prophecies abounding so fully with Messi- 
anic conceptions and announcements that the life 
of Christ can practically be read from the Old 
Testament itself. 

The messianic revelation which God gave to 
the world, as well as the revelation of himself, 
was progressive. From the single Eden promise 
with its intimation of the sacrifice in the slaying 
of the animal to provide a coat for man, which 
was the largest endowment God saw fit to give 
to the world of the knowledge of the Messiah for 
at least two thousand years, there developed a 
complete system of sacrifices. In connection with 
this, there was developed the priestly office, fore- 
shadowing in a concrete way the redeeming work 
of Christ. In the later period of the Old Testa- 
ment, the revelation became so much greater that 
the person and work of the Messiah found beau- 
tiful and minute portrayal in the word-pictures of 
the various prophets. The messianic hope which 
had glimmered but faintly in Eden, and had be- 
come the morning star to Israel, now appears as 
the "Son of Righteousness," (Mai. 4:2) spread- 
ing its beams on high, until the eastern sky is be- 

110 



The Christ of Prophecy 

ginning to redden with the glorious dawn of a 
new and better day. 

It is not a question whether every one under- 
stood the messianic utterances of his day. If 
some one should insist that even the prophets 
spake "Better than they knew," this would not 
set aside the fact that the Christ of the New Tes- 
tament was photographed in detail by the camera 
of Old Testament prophecy. Having beheld his 
face and features, and having witnessed his life, 
sufferings, death and resurrection, all that New 
Testament history can do, is to give us a more 
perfect, life-sized likeness, which but convinces us 
beyond a doubt that He of whom psalmists sang, 
and prophets spake, was indeed the Saviour of 
mankind. The New Testament abounds in mes- 
sianic interpretations, of Old Testament prophe- 
cies. Almost every event of note in the life of 
Christ, was fore-seen and foretold from the an- 
cient watch tower of prophecy. 

A Two-fold Application of Prophecy. — It is 
not intended that the following chapters should 
deal with every statement of Old Testament Scrip- 
tures which has a messianic aspect. This would 
be a difficult undertaking, for many of these far 
reaching prophecies, have a two-fold application. 
One of these applications is an immediate one, 
pertaining to the conditions of their day: The 

in 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

other a distant one, only reaching its largest ful- 
fillment, in the coming and work of the long- 
promised Messiah. These two applications some- 
times blend so gradually into each other that it 
is difficult in many instances to determine where 
the one ceases and the other begins. If this task 
could be accomplished, it would require a large 
volume. It is our present purpose to review the 
outstanding prophecies, whose fulfillments mark 
epochs, or at least important events, in the life 
of the historic Christ. 

Two View-points of Prophecy. — Prophecy and 
its fulfillment are so closely linked that, it is some- 
times forgotten which is the cause and which the 
effect. There are two ways of looking at the 
remarkable fact of prophecy and its fulfillment. 
The one is a forward look, and the other a back- 
ward look. The forward look, is the one neces- 
sary from the Old Testament standpoint, or from 
the pinnacle of prophecy itself. Its natural ex- 
pression would be: "These things are foreseen, be- 
cause in the Providence of God, they are coming 
to pass." The backward look is the one necessary 
from the point of fulfillment, and its natural lan- 
guage is: "These things are coming to pass, be- 
cause they have been prophesied." This is the 
frequent language of the New Testament, rela- 
tive to the fulfillment of prophecy. In fact neither 

I 12 



The Christ of Prophecy 

is the cause. Prophecy and its fulfillment are in- 
separable and concomitant effects; while the cause 
itself lies back in the wisdom and power of God. 
Lack of Correspondence between Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures and New Testament Quotations. 
— Before proceeding to take up these prophecies, 
a* word in reference to texts will be profitable. All 
intelligent students of prophecy have noticed that 
when a quotation is made in the New Testament 
from Old Testament Scriptures, in so many in- 
stances there is lacking an exact literal correspond- 
ence. This is due in most instances to the fact 
that the version of Old Testament Scripture in 
most common use in the time of Christ was the 
Septuagint. The Septuagint is rather a free Greek 
rendering of the Old Testament Scriptures, trans- 
lated about 285 B. C. It was no uncommon thing 
for New Testament writers to quote from this, 
rather than from the Hebrew Scriptures them- 
selves. This fact in itself accounts for the lack 
of literal correspondence, in many quotations. 
There are a few instances however, where neither 
the Septuagint nor the Hebrew Scriptures are fol- 
lowed exactly. An example of this is found in 
Eph. 4:8, which says: "When he ascended upon 
high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto 
men." The Hebrew Scriptures which are quite 
closely followed by the Septuagint and by our 
8 113 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

English versions of the Old Testament, says: "He 
received gifts among men." The principal differ- 
ence between the Old Testament and New Testa- 
ment quotations, lies in the difference between the 
words give and receive, which upon the surface 
seemed quite contradictory. Perhaps the best ex- 
planation which could be given of this passage 
would be that New Testament writers were un- 
der divine inspiration, and were permitted to ren- 
der a New Testament version of a great truth, 
just as those of the Old Dispensation were permit- 
ted to render an Old Testament version of the 
same truth. Whatever may be meant by receiv- 
ing gifts from among men; it is evident that all 
His receiving was with a view to giving out; hence 
they are but two aspects of one great truth. This 
one great truth was the conquest of our Christ, 
in which both dispensations share, but view from 
different grounds. These suggestions should re- 
lieve our minds of any anxiety which might arise 
in our comparisons of Old and New Testament 
Scriptures. 



114 




CHAPTER VI 

The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of 
Humanity 

ROM Old Testament prophecy It will 
be seen that the Messiah who was 
promised, and who should come, was 
not to be out of all relation to the 
world which he was coming to save. 
He was to be a member of the race in the meas- 
ure indicated in the Eden promise, being the 
"seed" of the woman. Not only was he to be a 
member of the human family, but according to 
the prophet in that great messianic prophecy of 
Isaiah, the nth Chapter, which is so unmistakable 
in its application; he was to belong to the He- 
brew nation, which in Abraham, was chosen the 
special conservators of pure religion. Verses i 
and 10 read thus: "And there shall come forth 
a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall 
grow out of his roots. And in that day there 
shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an 

ii5 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: 
and his rest shall be glorious." According to 
these plain statements of prophecy, if we would 
find the living branch sprouting from decaying 
roots, or behold the standard raised far above the 
low standards of the kingdoms; we must search 
among the people of the Hebrew nation. Long 
before this prophecy was uttered, it was declared 
that the lawgiver should arise out of the tribe of 
Judah. Gen. 49 : 10. 

The Messiah was not only to be a member 
of the Hebrew nation, of the tribe of Judah and 
a descendant of David, but it would be rather a 
difficult thing to be conversant with prophecy 
without having some knowledge as to the place 
where his advent should be made, for it was dis- 
tinctly foretold. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, 
though thou be little among the thousands of 
Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me 
that is to be ruler in Israel.' , Micah 5 : 2. 

True enough, when he came, who proved him- 
self the Saviour of men, he was not let down from 
heaven in the form of a celestial being; but came 
as a child born of a woman, having a birth-time 
and place. He was so distinctively known to be 
of Hebrew descent that St. Luke traces his gene- 
alogy in a continuous line from Mary to Judah and 
Abraham. Also the line of Joseph is traced in 

116 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Humanity 

a more abridged manner, by Matthew from Abra- 
ham to Joseph. This line too, is traced through 
Judah, the head of the tribe which bears his name. 
Both of these lines were so correct that the Jewish 
people of their day could not dispute them. In 
the genealogy as given by St. Luke, Joseph's name 
is inserted instead of Mary's. This was due to 
the fact that in Jewish genealogies, no woman's 
name entered; but the legal son or son-in-law was 
mentioned in her stead. In this particular the 
Christ of history is found identical with the Christ 
of prophecy. 

A Son of Deity and Virgin Birth 

While the promised Messiah was to be man, 
a member of the Jewish nation, and of the tribe 
of Judah; yet according to prophecy, there was 
to be something remarkable and supernatural 
about his birth. Inasmuch as he was to be truly 
man as well as truly God, a linking up of the 
human with the divine; it would be only natural 
for us to expect something remarkable and ex- 
traordinary in his advent. Back of the person and 
work of the Messiah, we must expect causes 
hitherto unknown, for results must be in keeping 
with their relative causes; and now we stand as 
in breathless silence, awaiting results which will 

117 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

doubtless stagger the intellect of men, devils and 
angels. He, to whom causes and effects are but 
obedient servants, announces by the mouth of his 
prophet, a plan which when once understood, 
must be recognized as a cause sufficient for the 
expected results. 

From the lips of Isaiah we have a prophecy 
very remarkable and unique. Here are the words 
of the prophecy: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive 
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." 
Isa. 7: 14. A supernatural thing indeed, that a 
son should be born of a virgin; but he who was 
to come as the special or great one in Israel, must 
be expected in this manner, if he is to be the child 
of prophecy. Since a remarkable person was 
promised to Israel, who was to be the Messiah, 
and a supernatural birth was prophesied for one 
of her sons; it would only be reasonable that both 
prophecies should relate to the same person. 

Let us see. Seven hundred and more years 
passed, but none came answering to such a re- 
markable description. Finally, to a young virgin 
of Nazareth, whose name was Mary, who was 
espoused to one Joseph; the angel of the Lord 
came and announced that, she should bring forth 
a son, and should call his name Jesus. Luke 
1:31. This, according to New Testament his- 
tory, being fulfilled; it is at once evident that the 

118 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Humanity 

Christ of sacred history is identical with the Vir- 
gin Child of prophecy. 

The Doctrine of the Virgin Birth, always an 
Article of Faith. — The doctrine of the virgin birth 
has always been accepted by the Christian church. 
It has been a written or unwritten faith from 
apostolic times to this. Only now and then an 
objection has been raised. The criticism of late 
years, has sought to undermine the Christian be- 
lief in the virgin birth and deity of Christ. This 
it never has, and never will accomplish. The one 
thing which it is doing, is to cause the church to 
examine her foundation a little more carefully, 
only to find in a more satisfactory manner that 
her faith in a divine Saviour of supernatural birth 
is entirely secure. 

An examination of the foundation stones of 
the Christian hope is not only pleasant but profit- 
able. In this time of liberal interpretation, it is 
necessary that each Christian should have an in- 
telligent understanding, and clearly defined ideas 
of Christian doctrine, as a fortification against the 
skepticism of the day. With this he is sure to 
come in contact; and it does not always appear as 
a roaring lion, but many times as an angel of light. 

The Hebrew Conception. — The virgin birth 
prophecy quoted above is submitted to every con- 
ceivable criticism. Few dare venture to dispute 

119 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

its messianic application, but this is occasionally 
attempted. Failing at this point, attack is made 
at another. The critic would argue that the He- 
brew word n o b $, Almah, translated virgin does 
not mean a maiden, but a newly married woman. 
This is a prevarication. The word is from the 
Hebrew verb, d S J£. Alam, which means to con- 
ceal; consequently, the Hebrew conception of a 
virgin was, one who had never known a man, so 
far as sexual relations were concerned hence was 
concealed in that sense. 

Despite the fact that Gesenius says that the 
word does not primarily signify the * unmarried 
state or unspotted virginity, but a young maiden 
of marriageable age; hence should not be trans- 
lated into the Greek as impQcvos, parthenos, which 
primarily means a virgin; The angel who an- 
nounced the fulfillment of the prophecy, to Joseph 
(Matt. 1:23,) according to St. Matthew, used 
-jrapOevos, parthenos, the very word which our critic 
says should not be used. Thus while short sighted 
men would even venture to criticise the very lan- 
guage of an arch-angel; it is reasonable to believe 
that God's prophets and angelic messengers un- 
derstood what they spake and spake what they 
meant, without consulting critics as to permissible 
words. Further, the author has carefully exam- 
ined the six only passages of the Old Testament 

120 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Humanity 

in which nnb : y, Almah, is used; and in none of 
the instances would the context require, or scarcely 
permit any other translation than that of virgin. 
Dr. James Orr in his great book "The Virgin 
Birth," quotes Luther as having made the follow- 
ing challenge : "If a Jew or Christian can prove 
to me that in any passage of scripture (npSy\ 
Almah means a 'married woman,' I will give him 
one hundred florins although God alone knows 
where I may find them." While it is not mine 
to dispute that, the word may mean a young 
woman of marriageable age; yet the fact of her 
being of a marriageable age, would not set aside 
her virginity, for there have no doubt always been 
and always will be, virgins of marriageable age. 
Hence it can be readily seen that, this is by no 
means conclusive evidence against the word n o b %, 
Almah, being translated virgin. It is the word 
used when the familiar story is told of Rebecca 
going out to draw water, when she is met by 
Eleazar, the servant of Abraham, who is in search 
of a wife for his son Isaac. Gen. 24th Chapter. 
It is also used in the incident of Pharaoh's daugh- 
ter finding Moses; and the maiden or virgin be- 
ing the sister of Moses, makes haste to secure a 
nurse. Ex. 2:8. 

Intimation of Virgin Birth in the Eden Prom- 
ise. — It would not be doing violence to the Eden 

121 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

promise of the Savior, to read from it at least 
an intimation of the virgin birth; for it was said 
of him that he was to be the seed of the woman. 
Woman is not the generic term used to represent 
the race. The term always used to represent the 
human family is man. Concerning this fact, the 
author has found in "Kidder's Messias," a book 
published in 1726, almost two hundred years ago, 
a paragraph so fresh and expressive, that it de- 
serves quotation in this connection. "Thus as sin 
entered by a woman, so did salvation also. And 
God made a woman the instrument of greatest 
good, as the first woman was the occasion of 
greatest evil. The woman was then first in the 
transgression, and now she is also made of God 
an instrument of the greatest blessing to man- 
kind: We are saved by the fruit of the woman's 
womb as we were made miserable at first by a 
woman's rebellion." Page 24. 

When such an accumulation of testimony is 
given its proper estimate, it is evident to all that, 
the child of prophecy is the child of virgin birth. 

In identifying the Christ of the New Testa- 
ment as the virgin son of prophecy, there is no 
difficulty; for both St. Matthew and St. Luke are 
explicit in their accounts of his miraculous birth. 

The Virgin Birth a Mystery. — The virgin 
birth has been, and always will continue to be, a 

122 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Humanity 

mystery; but even this does not militate against 
the fact, for almost everything pertaining to hu- 
man life is a mystery. Our genesis, our life, our 
death are mysteries; nevertheless we recognize 
them to be facts. 

To the virgin as well, this announcement ap- 
peared as a mystery; such a mystery that she in- 
quired of the angel Gabriel; "How shall this be, 
seeing I know not a man?" St. Luke i : 34. It 
was not until he had explained the mystery by 
saying: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, 
and the power of the Highest shall over-shadow 
thee : therefore also that holy thing which shall 
be born of thee shall be called the Son of God," 
that Mary replied; "Behold the handmaid of the 
Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." 
Luke 1 : 35 and 38. 

To Joseph, the espoused of Mary, it was a 
mystery so profound that his betrothed should be 
with child, before their coming together that, the 
angel found it necessary, at least in a measure, to 
solve the mystery for him. He assured him that 
he need not fear to take unto himself Mary, for 
that which was conceived in her was of the Holy 
Ghost. Matt. 1 : 20. 

The question of "how," with a readiness to 
accept the answer, is perfectly legitimate at the 
beginning of such a remarkable life. But after 

123 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

so many years of history with its long catalogue of 
unanswered "hows," but with its infallible proofs 
of the Deity of our Lord, the persistent question 
of "how" can scarcely be any other than the lan- 
guage of the skeptic. 

The Virgin Birth not Contrary to Nature. — 
But there are those who still deny the possibility 
of the virgin birth, declaring it to be contrary to 
nature. Short sighted indeed they must be, who 
have never discovered that what we call "nature" 
is simply another way of expressing God's ordi- 
nary way of doing things. If God should choose 
to step aside from his customary way of doing 
things, and do a thing just a little differently, that 
is his prerogative. It would be a strange God, 
who could at one time speak into existence a man 
without the aid of man or woman, and then should 
not be able at another time, to bring another man 
into the world, by the exercise of his divine power, 
through the agency of the woman only. 

This very fact may be said to account for a 
twofold nature in Christ, and makes him indeed 
the Son of God. He who was the Son of God, 
which he claimed to be (St. John 9:33-37, 10: 
24-25, 10:36-38 and Matt. 26:63-64), who 
had a pre-existence with God, had no need of a 
human Father. The humanity in Christ was but 
the natural gift of his human motherhood; while 

124 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Humanity 

his Deity was a direct result of his divine father- 
hood. The two statements found in the Apostles' 
Creed, "conceived by the Holy Ghost" and "born 
of the Virgin Mary," which modern critics are 
determined upon eliminating, are alike essential, 
and neither can ever be set aside without an in- 
calculable loss to the church. 

There are those who deny the possibility of a 
miracle on the physical plane, or in the humanity 
of Christ, but admit of a miracle on the moral 
or spiritual plane. But to admit a miracle on 
the one plane, is to open the way for a belief in 
a miracle on the other; for as says Prof. Bruce: 
A sinless man is as much a miracle in the moral 
world as a virgin birth is in the physical world.' 
The Virgin Birth, page 191. 

Wrong Conception of a Miracle.— Many have 
a wrong conception of a miracle. It is not as 
some maintain, a thing contrary to nature. It is 
simply nature's God stepping aside from, or a 
little in advance of, his customary manner of do- 
ing things and doing them just a little differently. 

The first miracle performed by our Lord dur- 
ing his earthly ministry, that of turning. water to 
wine at the marriage feast of Cana, was not the 
first time he accomplished the same results. Every 
year since creation, he has sent dew-drops and rain 
which combining with the other essential elements, 

125 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

have been absorbed by the grape vine; and by a 
mysterious process, has been transformed into 
sweet, sparkling grape-juice, such as Cana's wed- 
ding guests pronounced the "best wine." The 
only difference between these two incidents is that 
Creation's Lord took a shorter process to accom- 
plish the desired result in the one than in the 
other; simply doing it in a little different man- 
ner. It was only the difference in the manner 
of his procedure, which won for the one act the 
title of a miracle. 

His Sinlessness an Evidence of Deity. — The 
sinlessness of Christ, is in itself a miracle, which 
neither philosophy nor theology can explain ex- 
cept upon the fact of his Deity. To his sinless- 
ness, not only his apostles, but his enemies testify. 
Pilate three times declared his innocency. St. 
Luke 23:4, 23:14 and 23:22. Pilate's wife 
said: "Have thou nothing to do with that just 
man: for I have suffered many things this day 
in a dream because of him." Matt. 27:19. 
Judas said: "I have sinned in that I have betrayed 
the innocent blood." Matt. 27: 4; and went out 
and hanged himself. The Roman centurion who 
stood at the cross of the dying Savior exclaimed: 
"Truly this was the Son of God." Matt. 27 : 54. 

Concerning the sinlessness of Christ, Dr. 
Schaff says: "In vain do we look through the en- 

126 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Humanity 

tire biography of Jesus for a single stain or the 
slightest shadow on his moral character. There 
never lived a more harmless being on earth. He 
injured nobody, he took advantage of nobody. 
He never spoke an improper word, he never com- 
mitted a wrong action. He exhibited a uniform 
elevation above the objects, opinions, pleasures, 
and passions of this world, and disregard to riches, 
displays, fame, and favor of men. 'No vice 
that has a name can be thought of in connection 
with Jesus Christ. Ingenious malignity looks in 
vain for the faintest trace of self-seeking in his 
motives; sensuality shrinks abashed from his ce- 
lestial purity; falsehood can leave no stain on 
Him who is incarnate truth; injustice is forgotten 
beside his errorless equity; the very possibility of 
avarice is swallowed up in his benignity and love; 
the very idea of ambition is lost in his divine wis- 
dom and divine self-abnegation.' " 

His Influence upon the World's History. — 
Perhaps one of the strongest testimonies to the 
Deity of our Lord is the influence which his life 
has wielded and is still wielding upon the hearts 
and lives of men. This unique personality has 
wielded an influence upon the world's history, beg- 
garing the influences of all other forces combined. 
He has set in motion the deepest currents of the 
world's history. He has set more hearts to rapid 

127 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

beating, more brains to thinking, and more pens 
to writing than any other person. So far reaching, 
and deep seated is his influence upon mankind; 
that the great artist produces his master painting, 
as he portrays to the world some incident con- 
nected with the life of Jesus Christ. Even Japan, 
a hitherto heathen nation, has recently begun to 
reckon her calendar according to the years of our 
Lord, the same as Christian nations. These, all 
these are unwritten volumes of unanswerable evi- 
dences of the Deity of Jesus Christ. Conse- 
quently, the evidences of the Deity of our Lord 
do not lie simply in prophecy and its fulfillment, 
but also in his own personality. 

Long-tested Proofs still Valid. — Adding to the 
above evidences, the four marks which have long 
stood as the proofs of his Deity are still conclusive. 
They are these: 

Divine titles were assigned to him. 
Divine attributes were manifested in him. 
Divine works were wrought by him. 
Divine worship is conceded to him. 

All these considerations combined with the 
facts that he proved his lordship over nature by 
calming the raging sea ; over the animal kingdom, 
by giving permission to evil spirits to enter the 
herd of swine; over man, by his healing and sav- 

128 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Humanity 

ing power; over Satan, by his hand to hand con- 
flict, achieving a victory over temptation and 
death; make it an easy matter to identify our Old 
Testament Son of prophecy as the Christ of New 
Testament history. 



129 




CHAPTER VII 

The Christ of Prophecy— A Son of 
Royalty 

b HIS unique Son of Prophecy was evi- 
dently to combine remarkable charac- 
teristics. He was not only to sanctify 
humanity by assuming a human form; 
but he was to bring the human and the 
divine into closest relation. 

By Isaiah, it was prophesied that he was to 
be a king. "For unto us a child is born, unto us 
a son is given: and the government shall be upon 
his shoulder: and his name shall be called Won- 
derful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The ever- 
lasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isa. 9 : 6. 
This prophecy is unmistakeable in its interpreta- 
tion, for to none other than to the Son of God, 
could such titles be applied. Though seven hun- 
dred and more years distant, the words of the 
prophecy are spoken with as much authority and 
certainty as though they had already come to pass. 
In our versions the prophecy is written in the pres- 

130 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

ent tense; but in the Hebrew Scriptures it ap- 
pears in the perfect (past) tense. 

He was also to be a descendant of the house 
of David; consequently of a royal line; for the 
same prophet continues: "Of the increase of his 
government and peace there shall be no end, upon 
the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to 
order it, and to establish it with judgment and 
justice from henceforth even forever." Isa. 9: 7. 
To this another prophet adds his testimony: "Be- 
hold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will 
raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King 
shall reign and prosper, and shall execute justice 
and judgment in the earth." Jer. 23:5. 

His kingdom was to be one of peace. His 
name was to be called the "Prince of Peace," and 
of the increase of his government and peace there 
was to be no end. Isa. 9:6, 7. 

The Psalmist, on whose every side had been 
disturbance, unrest and war, was enabled to ex- 
ult in a messianic hope and said: "But the meek 
shall inherit the earth; and shall delight them- 
selves in the abundance of peace." Psa. 37: 11. 

After centuries of war, blood-shed and de- 
feat, the prospect to ancient Israel of a King, 
who was to be a Prince of Peace must have been 
joyous. 

Further, His kingdom zvas to be one whose 

I3 1 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

policy was righteousness. In one of the Psalms 
which is so distinctly messianic, it is declared: 
"Thy throne, O God, is forever and forever: the 
sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre." Psa. 
45 : 6. How ideal such a kingdom must have 
seemed to the Israelites, with their divided king- 
doms and long line of kings from Saul to Zede- 
kiah. Of many of this long line of Israel's 
kings, sacred history says: "And he did that which 
was evil in the sight of the Lord; He departed 
not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, 
who made Israel sin." Even Solomon the greatest 
of kings, was so oppressive and exacting that, 
when a new king came to the throne, a reversal 
of policy was demanded by his subjects. 

Israel's experience in captivity, Egyptian and 
Babylonish, was a sad one. Sometimes the bur- 
dens which they were compelled to carry, were 
heavier than they could bear; and the yoke upon 
their necks was well nigh intolerable. But a King 
was expected who would rule in righteousness. 

At least one more important characteristic was 
to mark the coming kingdom. It was to be uni- 
versal and abiding; "I have made a covenant with 
my chosen, I have sworn unto David my serv- 
ant, Thy seed will I establish forever, and 
build up thy throne to all generations." Psa. 89: 
3-4; also "his seed also will I make to endure 

132 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

forever, and his throne as the days of heaven." 
Psa. 89: 29. Again referring to the above quo- 
tation, "of the increase of his government and 
peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of 
David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to 
establish It with judgment and with justice from 
henceforth even forever." Isa. 9:7. Also the 
little stone which smote the great image, was 
prophesied to fill the whole earth. Dan. 2:35. 
Also: "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my 
holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the 
sea." Isa. 11:9. 

With the expectancy of a King, a descendant 
of David, one whose policy was to be that of 
righteousness, whose reign was to be one of peace, 
and whose kingdom was to be forever; the prophe- 
cies of the Old Testament were to be brought to 
a close. 

Israel's History between the Books. — After the 
echo of the very last message of the last messenger 
of the Old Dispensation had died away, there was 
silence for the space of four hundred years. The 
brightest hopes had gone into eclipse: God spake 
no more to men. 

To add to the silence of God, with its accom- 
panying disappointments, the political condition 
of Israel grew worse. The Assyrian captivity, 

!33 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

which had carried away the northern tribes, and 
during which the prophecy of Isaiah was written; 
had given place to a more complete one, the Baby- 
lonish captivity. Although not realized, Israel's 
hope was not entirely gone; for out of the very 
ruins of the Jewish nation, during this captivity 
arose the messianic prophecies of Daniel, Jere- 
miah, and Ezekiel. This captivity continued from 
about 605 B. C. to 538 B. C, when the Baby- 
lonish empire was destroyed by Cyrus the Great 
of Persia. From this time on, for about two hun- 
dred years, the destiny of the Hebrew people was 
in the hands of the Persians. During this period 
the books of Nehemiah, Ezra, Esther and Mal- 
achi were written. In 536 B. C, the Israelites 
were allowed to return and rebuild the temple at 
Jerusalem. A part of them returned to build the 
temple, while a larger part never again set foot 
on Palestinian soil. They were granted a degree 
of tolerance at times, but their national life had 
not been regained. 

A little later, about 332 B. C, a change took 
place. Alexander the Great, not only destroyed 
the Persian empire, but conquested together with 
Egypt and adjacent countries, the land of Pales- 
tine. The heart of this great general was won 
by the submissive attitude of the Jews; which 
caused him to show to them great favors. He 

134 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

even exempted them from tribute, on their Sab- 
batic years. 

At the death of Alexander, a few years later, 
323 B. C; one of his generals, Ptolemy, seized 
Egypt as his share of the empire of Alexander. 
Two years later, Ptolemy invaded Palestine and 
occupied the city of Jerusalem; and for a little 
more than a hundred years, the Jews were in sub- 
jection to an Egyptian monarch. Then, as if the 
Hebrews were to be the heritage of all nations; 
Judea was conquered by Antiochus the Great ; and 
for a time the Jews were under Syrian rule. 

The chosen people bore up under political or 
national crushings, though at times severe, with 
considerable of courage and fortitude. But when 
Antiochus IV, decided that the Jews would not 
yield absolute obedience to him as long as they 
retained their religion; and issued an edict that 
they must conform to the customs of the religions 
of the Greeks and forbade their sacrifices, plac- 
ing the statue of Jupiter Olympus upon the altar 
of the temple, a strong faction arose in open re- 
volt about 167 B. C. 

This insurrection was headed by Mattathias, 
and later by his son Judas Maccabeus, who so 
successfully headed the army of the loyal Jews, 
against the generals who were sent against them 
that the temple worship was restored. This vic- 

135 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

torious campaign of Judas Maccabeus made the 
Jews to begin to feel that, possibly he who had 
been expected as the Messiah, had arisen in the 
person of this general. This hope of the Jews 
was augmented by the strange death of Antiochus, 
who having heard of the victory achieved by 
Judas Maccabeus, threatened to make Jerusalem 
a grave for the Jews and mounting his chariot, 
bade his driver to make speed, but fell from his 
chariot and died. But this bright star in Israel's 
national hope proved to be but a falling meteor; 
and their leader was at length sacrificed to the 
cause which he had championed. 

Following Judas Maccabeus, each of his two 
brethren, Jonathan and Simon and his nephew 
John Hyrcanus, in their order, succeeded in stand- 
ing at the head of a tottering Jewish state. But 
this Jewish state was so dependent, that it was 
but little more than a pretense. Almost continu- 
ously a heavy tribute was paid to the Roman gov- 
ernment. This dependence upon the Roman gov- 
ernment increased until about 63 B. C. when 
Judea became practically a Roman province. 
Herod the Great, who was king of Judea, at the 
time of the birth of Christ, and with whom 
Bible readers are familiar; was placed in his posi- 
tion by the Roman government, about 40 B. C. 

Having reviewed the exalted hope of the Old 

136 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

Testament, relative to the kingship of the Mes- 
siah, and having traced the political condition of 
Israel, from the Assyrian and Babylonian cap- 
tivity, to Herod the Great; it will be our next in- 
quiry, whether or not, this messianic hope found 
its materialization in the Christ of the New Tes- 
tament. 

Kingly Titles 

First of all, it will be in order to examine the 
titles or names applied to Christ in the New Tes- 
tament, and determine whether or not they bear 
any relation to those applied to the Messiah of 
the Old Testament. 

The name, Messiah, Hebrew iV#n» maw-shee- 
akh, which was the name applied to him in a 
few passages of Old Testament Scripture, Psa. 
2 : 2 and Daniel 9 : 26, but more frequently in 
later Jewish writings; means the anointed. It is 
the noun form of the Hebrew verb which means 
to anoint. This anointing was the bestowing of 
the holy unction or the anointing of kings, high- 
priests and prophets, with holy oil; thus inducting 
them into their sacred offices. Comparing the 
New Testament history of the Christ, we find 
that he was recognized by men as the Messiah, 
St. John 1:41, He also professed to be the Mes- 
siah who should come, when he said to the woman 
at the well: "I that speak unto thee am he." St. 

137 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

John 4:26. While this title was used in reference 
to prophet, priest and king, it distinctly belonged 
to Him who combined all these offices, and who 
faithfully executed each of them. 

The common New Testament name applied 
to him is Christ, Greek xp 10 "™?? christos, which 
also means the anointed. Consequently, whether 
we speak of him as the Messiah or the Christ, 
we mean u the Anointed." Under this title, the 
Messiah of the Old Testament is identified as the 
Christ of the New. 

The name Immanuel given in the virgin 
prophecy of Isaiah 7: 14, is also claimed by the 
angel, for the virgin child; whom he declared to 
be a fulfillment of this prophecy. Matt. 1 : 23. 
The name Jesus which was but the human title 
for Christ, is from the same Hebrew word, from 
which Joshua is translated and means a deliverer. 
Even his human title has a significance, for the 
angel said; "Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for 
he shall save his people from their sins." Matt. 
1 : 21. 

A Kingly Advent 

When the time came for the fulfillment of 
the Old Testament prophecy; there appeared in 
the heavens a new star, which is called: "his 
star." It is not necessarily in our province to dis- 
cuss the nature or form of the star. Whether or 

138 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

not any of the theories which have been offered 
concerning the star, by Kepler and others are cor- 
rect, may be left for consideration; but one thing- 
is in evidence, and that is, that the new astronom- 
ical appearance had a purpose. Further, it was 
recognized as having a purpose. That purpose it 
faithfully served by leading the magi from the 
far east to the birthplace of the King. 

Upon reaching Judea, they went immediately 
to King Herod saying; "Where is he that is born 
King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in 
the east, and are come to worship him." The 
significant inquiry concerning him who was the 
"born King" of the Jews, brought an immediate 
inquiry to the lips of Herod. Whether or not 
he had ever heard of the hope which was enter- 
tained by the Jews, that a king should arise 
among them; he no doubt had a keen sense of 
the fact that he possessed no inherited or moral 
right to rule the people. At least for once, the 
matter was not passed by indifferently. Calling 
the chief priests and scribes to him, he inquired 
of them where Christ should be born. To this 
they replied: "In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus 
it is written by the prophets, and thou Bethlehem, 
in the land of Juda, art not the least among the 
princes of Juda : for out of thee shall come a 
Governor, that shall rule my people Israel." 

139 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

Matt. 2 : 5-6. Here the identical prophecy which 
had been spoken centuries before, promising a 
ruler to Israel; served to guide the wise men to- 
ward the kingly cradle, when the star ceased to 
do so. Perhaps it would be better to say that it 
served as a guide to point lost travelers to the 
kingly star when they had turned aside from it. 
The homage which the magi rendered to the 
Bethlehem babe, also the gifts which they laid at 
his feet; were such that were befitting to a royal 
child. "Gold," says Rice: "has always been 
esteemed as a proper gift to royalty." Frankin- 
cense, an ingredient used in preparing the "holy 
perfume," for the sanctuary, Ex. 30:34, and 
myrrh, a spice used in compounding the "holy 
anointing oil" (Ex. 30:31.) also constituted a 
part of the gift, presented to the infant child. 
These, though possibly bespeaking the priestly 
office of this son of royalty, also became him as 
a King; for as says the above mentioned commen- 
tator, "These when mixed with cinnamon and 
aloes, formed a valuable perfume, widely esteemed 
in the houses of the great." Whether these "wise 
men" were members of a priestly class, or mon- 
archs from the far off Arabia or Persia is not cer- 
tain. The incident however, is so remarkable that 
it testifies to the kingship of the one for whom a 
special star was arranged in the heavens, and for 

140 



The Christ of Prophecy— A Son of Royalty 

whose honor "wise men" traveled for weeks, and 
possibly months, that they might lay a royal of- 
fering at his feet. 

Perplexed by the report of the star, the 
prophecy and the failure of the wise men to re- 
turn with the desired information, Herod at once 
proceeded to send forth and slay all the male 
children of Bethlehem and her coasts, of two years 
old and under; thus assuring himself that the 
king-child would not sit upon his throne. 

This action upon the part of Herod, with 
the miraculous escape of the child Jesus, by the 
flight to Egypt, not only attests the divinity of 
our Lord, but also speaks volumes in favor of 
his kingship. 

A Kingly Herald : 

When a king or some other great man was 
about to make a journey through the Eastern 
country, where there were few highways, and 
where the roads were neglected and in ill repair; 
a messenger was send ahead, to ask the ruler and 
his people to prepare the way. They were ex- 
pected to fill up the washouts, to cut down the 
hills, to straighten the crooked places and to re- 
move the stones; so that the king and his escorts 
might ride in safety. 

When Jesus Christ the great king of heaven, 
141 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

and the Lord of the universe, was about to drive 
his chariots of conquests through this sadly neg- 
lected world; a messenger, in the person of John 
the Baptist was sent ahead crying: "Make ye 
ready the way of the Lord, make his paths 
straight." Matt. 3 : 3 A. V. 

A Kingly Recognition 

A few years elapsed. The hidden years of 
Nazareth are passed and the ministry of Jesus is 
begun. Words of blessings flow from his lips; 
virtue of healing proceeds from his touch, and 
messages of salvation are spoken from his heart. 
Men have mistaken the mission of the "anointed" 
and follow him in multitudes. 

It was along the north eastern coast of Galilee 
that a great multitude thronged him. Having 
had compassion upon them, teaching them and 
healing them, he also fed them. Taking five 
loaves and a few little fishes, he blessed them to 
the measure of feeding a company of five thou- 
sand men, besides women and children, and there 
remained twelve basket fulls. St. John 6: 11-16. 
When the people saw the great miracle which he 
had performed, they determined to make him 
King. Jesus knowing the purpose of the multi- 
tude, withdrew to the mountain, leaving their 
plans but to disappointment. 

142 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

The earthly ministry is drawing to a close. 
He who was King indeed, would not conceal his 
kingship altogether. Having sent his disciples 
into the city for a colt on which never man sat — 
for a king's beast must not be rode upon by an- 
other, he mounts the colt and starts on his tri- 
umphal entry into the city. Great was the enthu- 
siasm of the hour as he who had come in fulfill- 
ment of prophecy, but who had as yet refused 
the crown, came riding into the capital city upon 
an ass, the Jews' national and royal beast. A 
very great multitude thronged the way, many of 
them casting down their garments for the beast 
to tread upon. Others cut down branches from 
the trees and strewed them in the way, and the 
multitude cried: "Hosanna: blessed is the King 
of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." 
This event has a still greater significance when it 
is understood that the word Hosanna, with which 
the multitude hailed Jesus, is derived from the 
Hebrew verb yw\ Ya-shah, which means to save. 
By the use of the word "Hosanna," the multi- 
tude hailed Jesus as a Deliverer saying: "Save 
we pray," or "deliver we pray." It is evident 
from this that they looked upon him as the one 
who should deliver Israel. 

There are those who look upon this event, 
not as a political expectation upon the part of 

143 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

the people, but as a spiritual one. It is evident 
however, that the people really hailed him as 
king. Even his own disciples did not fully un- 
derstand that his kingdom was not to be a literal 
one, for at so late an hour as the betrayal, Peter 
made an effort to defend his Lord by cutting off 
the ear of the high priest's servant with his sword. 
This event is but a fulfillment of two combined 
prophecies, of Isa. 62: 11, which is an address to 
the daughter of Zion, saying; "Say ye to the 
daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh," 
and, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, 
O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy King 
cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salva- 
tion; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a 
colt the foal of an ass. Zech. 9 : 9. 

Bitter must have been the disappointment, 
when upon reaching the city, Jesus began to turn 
his attention toward temple cleansing, rather than 
toward the administration of civil affairs. He 
was a king refusing a crown. 

A Kingly Testimony 

It is worthy of note that the favorite title, and 
the one which Jesus most frequently applied to 
himself, was, "The Son of Man." This he truly 
was, and it was because of this, that he could take 
man's place and die for man, and thus become 

144 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

the Saviour of men. But he was more than a 
"Son of Man," He was as truly the Son of God 
as the Son of Man; and being the Son of God, 
he was King. Though he took his place as a 
man, and paraded not his kingship; yet when the 
time came, he did not hesitate to exhibit his 
powers and reveal his dignity and identity. 

But a short time previous to his betrayal, he 
disclosed to his disciples his kingly rank by the 
following words of prophecy relative to his com- 
ing kingdom of glory. "When the Son of Man 
shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels 
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of 
his glory: and before him shall be gathered all 
nations; and he shall separate them one from an- 
other, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from 
the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right 
hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the 
King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye 
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- 
pared for you from the foundation of the world. 
Matt. 25:31-34. 

Neither did Jesus hesitate to acknowledge 
his kingship, to those who were not his friends, 
even at the risk of his life, when it became neces- 
sary for him to do so. When Pilate asked him 
the question: "Art thou the King of the Jews?" 
John 18:33, Jesus answered: "Thou sayest that 
10 145 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

I am a King. To this end I was born, and for 
this cause came I into the world, that I should 
bear witness unto the truth." John 18:37. To 
this testimony falling from the lips of Jesus him- 
self, Pilate could make no reply of criticism, but 
immediately turned, and went again unto the Jews 
saying: "I find in him no fault at all." 

A Kingly Inscription 

It was with considerable hesitancy that Pilate 
at last consented to the desire of the clamoring 
Jews. This he did in disobedience of the ex- 
pressed wish of his wife, who sent unto him say- 
ing: "Have thou nothing to do with that just 
man." Matt. 27: 19. By so doing he also vio- 
lated his own conscience, for he pretentiously 
washed his hands, saying: "I am innocent of the 
blood of this just person." Matt. 27 : 24. 

Wearing a purple robe and a crown of thorns, 
Jesus was led into the judgment hall. Pilate look- 
ing out over the multitude, said unto them: "Be- 
hold the man." When the Jews continued to cry: 
"Crucify him," Pilate became more troubled as 
he listened to the gracious words which fell from 
the lips of the Christ; and said to the Jews: 
"Behold your King." "Shall I crucify your 
King?" 

When by continued demand of the Jews, Pi- 
146 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

late was prevailed upon to allow Jesus to be cruci- 
fied, he prepared for the cross a very significant 
inscription. In Hebrew and Greek and Latin, so 
that all might read, it was written: "This is the 
King of the Jews." This displeased the chief 
priest, who said to Pilate: "Write not, The King 
of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the 
Jews." St. John 19: 21. To this Pilate replied: 
"What I have written, I have written." St. John 
19: 22. And there remained upon the cross dur- 
ing the crucifixion, sufferings and death of the 
Christ, an inscription of official recognition; de- 
claring Him to be The King of the Jews. 

The Kingdom of Peace 

Having received the testimony of prophecy 
that, the Messiah was to be a "Prince of Peace," 
consequently his kingdom one of peace; it will be 
interesting to note whether or not, this charac- 
teristic marks the kingdom of the Christ. 

The Peace Anthem. — The shades of night had 
fallen upon the Bethlehem hills. The shepherds 
were quietly watching their flocks. Over in the 
village not far away, an event had transpired, 
which was of world-wide moment. Lying in a 
manger was a babe, whose birth made the very 
heavens rejoice. Suddenly there shined around 
about the shepherds, the glory of the Lord, and an 

147 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

angel stood in their midst, who said: "Fear not: 
for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, 
which shall be to all people. For unto you is 
born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, 
which is Christ the Lord." St. Luke 2: 10-11. 
Immediately there appeared with the angel, a 
multitude of the heavenly host, who unitedly sang : 
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
good-will toward men." It was not only peace in 
heaven, but peace "on earth." Very befitting that 
the Prince of Peace should be introduced into his 
earthly conquest by a heavenly choir, who sang the 
first peace anthem which earth had ever heard 
since the peaceful reign in unfallen Eden had 
given way to the reign of darkness. All earth 
should welcome this announcement of peace and 
join in the anthem of peace, after centuries of po- 
litical disturbances and wars, which wiped one 
by one the world powers from the face of the 
globe. 

He of whom the angel sang, was indeed the 
Prince of Peace. His advent in the world marked 
in a potential manner, the beginning of a reign of 
peace. Whether before his earthly ministry, dur- 
ing that time, or since, reaching back to humanity's 
earliest history, or reaching forward to his ulti- 
mate goal, every bit of peace is but an anticipa- 
tion and a foretaste of the reign of peace, when 

148 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

the prophetic peace anthem shall find its highest 
fulfillment. It is only then that the peace reign 
shall be full and universal. 

Whether the Son of Man was forgiving the 
sinner, healing the sick, or calming the stormy sea ; 
it was a breathing of peace to a troubled heart, a 
suffering body, or disturbed nature. 

Neither is this a contradiction of the words of 
Christ himself when he said: "Think not that I 
am come to send peace on earth: I came not to 
send peace, but a sword." Matt. 10:34. For 
a conquest is on hand. The Son of God must de- 
liver this old world out of the hand of the usurper 
and destroyer. A sword is the symbol of con- 
quest. In this as well, the sword and battle are 
the forerunners of peace. These words of Jesus 
constitute the war-cry; but peace is the inevitable 
result. 

Jesus said to his disciples, but a little time 
previous to his going away: "Peace I leave with 
you, my peace I give unto you : not as the world 
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be 
troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14: 27. 
Yet his disciples did not find it possible to meas- 
ure this divine peace by a worldly standard; for 
all of them excepting one died as martyrs for the 
cause which they had espoused. 

Not a few however, have false conceptions of 
149 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

peace. Two artists were asked to draw pictures 
illustrating peace. The one drew a quiet pond, 
whose waters were without a wave or motion. 
The other drew a picture of a little bird, sitting 
upon the bough of a tree; which, while the wind 
was blowing, and the rain was pouring upon it, 
sat singing exultingly. So Christ came to bring 
peace, and that peace will eventually be universal 
and undisturbed. But the price of that peace is 
severe conflict. The peace which reigns in the 
bosoms of his disciples to-day, is that which sings 
and exults amidst the fury of the storm. 

The Sceptre of Righteousness 

Closely related to, and forming an indispens- 
able part of the reign of peace is the Sceptre of 
Righteousness. Injustice, oppression, greed, ava- 
rice and almost innumerable other sins had marked 
the reigns of the Kings of Israel. These sins the 
prophets of the Old Testament did not hesitate 
to lay at the feet of the guilty ones. Of our Son 
of Royalty, upon whose shoulders the government 
should rest, and who is the Prince of Peace; it 
has been declared that his sceptre shall be a right- 
eous one. Psalms 45 : 6. Also His throne is to 
be established with judgment and with justice. 
Isaiah 9 : 7. 

150 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

The writer of the book of Hebrews, in the 
first chapter, quotes the language of this messi- 
anic psalm; and declares it to have its fulfillment 
in the Christ of the New Testament. If the ser- 
mon on the mount be taken as the constitution of 
his government, who would dare to dispute, that 
a righteous policy is the policy of his reign. 

The two elements, peace and righteousness, 
go together. It is the combined realization of 
these, in the person and reign of Christ, of which 
the Psalmist prophetically sang: "Mercy and 
truth are met together; righteousness and peace 
have kissed each other." Psa. 85: 10. 

As a result of this sceptre of righteousness, 
which will continue to destroy wickedness and ex- 
alt the good, the time is coming, when the triumph 
of right will be complete. This final triumph, the 
prophet saw far in advance and said: u And it 
shall come to pass in the last days, that the moun- 
tain of the Lord's house shall be established in 
the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted 
above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it. 
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and 
let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the 
house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us 
of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for 
out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word 
of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge 

151 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

among the nations, and shall rebuke many people : 
and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, 
and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall 
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they 
learn war any more. Isa. 2 : 2-4. 

In this final triumph both Old and New Tes- 
taments join in great exultation. 

The Kingdom Universal and Abiding 
Adding to the elements of peace and right- 
eousness, which constitute this reign, there are two 
other characteristic elements which combine to 
make this kingdom the ideal one. It is to be uni- 
versal and abiding. It is true that any New Tes- 
tament statement as well as those of the Old Tes- 
tament concerning this point, would of necessity 
partake of a prophetic nature, as the time for the 
ultimate consummation of the kingdom has not 
fully come. To these Old Testament expectations 
of the messianic kingdom, the New Testament 
kingdom of the Christ perfectly harmonizes. 

Jesus professed to his hearers that when an 
assembled universe is brought to judgment, he 
himself shall sit upon the throne, swaying the 
righteous sceptre of judgment; and will appoint 
to the redeemed their inheritance in the kingdom, 
but confirm the choice of the impenitent for the 
region of outer darkness. This kingdom, of 

152 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

which Jesus declares himself King, and into which 
the faithful are welcomed, in duration of time, is 
expressed by the Greek word cuwvios, aionios, 
which means never ending. Matt. 25 : 46. 

To the universality and abiding elements, of 
the kingdom of our Christ, the apostle Paul, in 
his ministerial charge to Timothy, adds a very 
significant testimony. He says: "I give thee 
charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all 
things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pon- 
tius Pilate witnessed a good confession; that thou 
keep this commandment without spot, unrebuk- 
able, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 
which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed 
and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord 
of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in 
the light which no man can approach unto ; whom 
no man hath seen, nor can see ; to whom be honor 
and power everlasting." I Tim. 6: 13-16. 

The book of Revelation, which is looked upon 
as being a sealed book, but whose very title indi- 
cates a revealing, or bringing to light, contains the 
advance history of the consummation of all things. 
Here Jesus Christ is spoken of as the Prince of 
the kings of the earth. Rev. 1:5. He is also 
declared to be "Lord of lords, and King of kings." 
Rev. 17: 14. Again the writer says: "And I 
heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, 

153 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice 
of mighty thundering saying, Alleluia: for the 
Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." 

Consequently the spirit of the whole New 
Testament, in relation to the kingdom of its 
Christ, or Anointed One, is in perfect harmony 
with the plain statements of the Old Testament, 
relative to the universal and abiding kingdom of 
its Royal Child. Thus when all other thrones 
will have crumbled, and all other crowns will have 
faded, and all other dynasties will have ceased to 
be; our Royal Son of Prophecy shall sit upon the 
throne which is eternal, and again enjoy the honor 
and dignity which he had at the right hand of 
the Father before his princely robes were laid 
aside for earthly condescension, and will be 
crowned as King of kings. 

The Threefold Aspect of the Kingdom 

While Jesus Christ is pre-eminently the King 
of kings and Lord of lords, and his kingdom 
universal and abiding; there are three distinctive 
phases of his kingdom which should be noted, 
and which may be classified, as : 

I St. His kingdom of power. 

2d. His kingdom of grace. 

3d. His kingdom of glory. 

154 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

These three are not different and separate 
spheres of operation, but rather three aspects of 
his administration. They may be said to be dif- 
ferent methods of working. 

His Kingdom of Power. — This kingdom em- 
braces all created universe, animate and inani- 
mate. It includes all plant, animal and human 
life. A significant statement bearing upon this 
aspect is found in St. John i: n, which reads, 
according to the King James version : "He came 
unto his own, and his own received him not." 
But when rendered accurately, from the Greek 
text, reads: "He came unto his own things and 
they who were his own received him not." This 
difference is indicated in part, by the American Re- 
vised Version, and reveals the fact that, Christ 
came not only to man, but to his own things, his 
creation; and among the objects to whom he 
came, it was not his whole creation, but his own 
people who received him not. In this text Jesus 
Christ is declared to be, not only Lord of men 
but Lord of creation. But no other part of 
his great kingdom has been so slow to acknowl- 
edge his royalty and kingship as man. 

During his earthly ministry, this aspect of 
his kingship was displayed in his manifested 
lordship over everything that he met. Devils 
and unclean spirits acknowledged his authority 

155 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

and kingship, confessing him to be the Son of 
God. The animal kingdom was seen to be under 
his control, when he permitted the devils to en- 
ter the herd of swine, and when as Mark observes, 
that he was with the wild beasts. Mark 5 : 13 
and 1 : 13. Nature acknowledged his lordship 
when, in obedience to his commands, the angry 
waves of the sea became calm, and the fig tree's 
leaves were withered. The subjects then of his 
kingdom of power are angels, devils, men, crea- 
tures of other inhabited planets, and all other 
forms of physical or spiritual existence. Nothing 
can evade his lordship. In point of scope, this 
aspect of his kingship covers the two following 
aspects. 

His Kingdom of Grace. — This kingdom is a 
spiritual one, and relates only to men. It includes 
only such as volunteer to become subjects of his 
spiritual rule. None is barred from citizenship in 
this kingdom except as he bars himself by the 
wrong use of his free moral agency. It was con- 
cerning this kingdom that Jesus said to his dis- 
ciples: "The kingdom of God is within you." It 
was also doubtless of this kingdom that Jesus said : 
"My kingdom is not of this world." St. John 
18 : 36. This aspect of Christ's kingdom is based 
upon his mediatorial work and includes his re- 
demptive operations. It was while in contempla- 

156 



The Christ of Prophecy — A Son of Royalty 

tion of this mediatorial work of Jesus Christ that 
St. Paul denominated himself a "bond-servant, " 
or 8ov\os, doulos, a purchased slave. 

Christ reigns over his own people, the sub- 
jects of his kingdom of grace; not only from 
without, but also from within. Says Dr. A. A. 
Hodge, in his Popular Lectures on Theological 
Themes: "From without he subdues his and their 
enemies, restraining Satan, his angels and wicked 
men. He strengthens them in weakness, defends 
them in danger, directs and co-operates with them 
in action, and gives them ultimately the victory 
in all their contests, and causes them always to 
persevere to the end, that they may receive a 
crown of life." From within he rules supremely. 
His agent, the Holy Spirit, is recognized as the 
Executive of the affairs of this spiritual adminis- 
tration. His will and laws serve as the constitu- 
tion and statutes for government. His rewards 
which are spiritual, and far beyond anything 
which this world could offer, are the prizes for 
which spiritual contestants run in the stadium of 
human life. 

His Kingdom of Glory. — This kingdom dis- 
tinctively belongs to the future, and will supersede 
the kingdom of grace. The kingdom of grace is 
a vestibule, leading into this glorious kingdom, 
with its door of entrance among men. In the 

157 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

kingdom of grace, Christ is occupied in media- 
torial achievements. He is a captain leading a 
host. He is conquesting and conquering. But 
the time is coming when all this work will have 
been completed, and Christ shall sit upon "the 
throne of his glory." Matt. 25:31. Though 
a millenial period may intervene his Kingdom 
of Grace and his final Kingdom, it is only 
preparatory and will give way to the perfect and 
eternal Kingdom of Glory. He came to his 
throne in the kingdom of grace as a humble, de- 
spised, outcast, and suffering Saviour, he was 
inaugurated into it, by a shameful, cruel death on 
the cross. When he comes to his Kingdom of 
Glory, it will be upon charioted clouds, amidst the 
shouts of angels, and clarion notes of heaven's 
trumpeteers. His inauguration will be complete, 
when all other crowns have been cast at his feet, 
and earth and heaven unitedly, 

"Bring forth the royal diadem, 
And crown him Lord of all." 



158 




CHAPTER VIII 

The Christ of Prophecy— The Man 
of Sorrows 

many and diverse are the aspects 
which are presented to us of this Son 
of Prophecy by Old Testament Scrip- 
ture that unless careful account is taken 
of their relations, one might mistake 
and expect more than a single personality. 

One of the most touching pictures thrown 
upon the canvas by the camera of Old Testament 
prophecy is the Man of Sorrows. This man of 
sorrows is at once identified as our "Royal Son of 
Prophecy;" and well can he be for he is also a 
"Son of Humanity." There has never been a son 
of humanity, who was not in some degree, a man 
of sorrows; but among all men of sorrows, this 
one is distinctively The Man of Sorrows. 

Putting ourselves as nearly as possible into the 
spirit of Old Testament prophecy, it would be 
profitable to trace a few outstanding facts in con- 
nection with this interesting personality. 

159 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

i. He was to be an outcast among men. 
Isa. 53:3. 

2. He was to be betrayed by a familiar 
friend. Psa. 41:9. And the price of the betrayal 
was prophetically counted out by Zechariah, as be- 
ing thirty pieces of silver. Zech. 11: 12. 

3. Though sinless and innocent, he was to 
be held as guilty. Isa. 53: 9, 12. 

4. He was to be meek and defenceless in his 
death. Isa. 53 : 7. 

5. His sufferings and death were to be sub- 
stitutional or vicarious. Isa. 53:4-5, also 53: 8. 

Despite the fact that this remarkable descrip- 
tion is given in such minute detail, not only Jews, 
but also Gentiles, have made for themselves a diffi- 
cult task of interpretation. They have searched 
far and wide for a subject to whom the photo- 
graph could be fitted. Every attempted retouch- 
ing of the picture, purposing to fit it, if possible, 
to some foreign subject has been in vain; and to- 
day the Christian world falls before this Man of 
Sorrows, recognizing him to be the historic 
Christ of the New Testament. It is an increasing 
delight to faithful students of prophecy that seven 
hundred or more years previous to his coming; 
the Saviour of mankind was so perfectly portrayed 
that none need fail to recognize him, and no other 
subject could answer to the form and feature of 
that likeness. 160 



The Christ of Prophecy — Man of Sorrows 

The Sorrow of the Outcast 
One of the first pages of the life history of 
The Man of Sorrows contains the following item: 
"There was no room for them in the inn." Luke 
2:7. This statement although referring to the 
earliest instance in his life's career, may be looked 
up as not only representing the few years of his 
earthly stay; but may also admit of an applica- 
tion to the present condition of the many hearts 
who still have no room for the Saviour of the 
world. 

Scarcely had he made his advent into the 
world, when a jealous, wicked, bloodthirsty king 
sought his life ; and the foul plot had to be foiled 
by a hurried flight into distant Egypt, in order 
that his life might be saved. 

Even his own people, the Jews, to whom and 
of whom he came, rejected him. This in itself 
seemed to send great sorrow to his tender heart; 
for one day as he looked out upon the city of the 
Jews, Jerusalem itself, and while doubtless tears 
coursed his cheeks; there fell from his lips the 
sorrowful declaration: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
which killest the prophets, and stonest them that 
are sent unto thee; how often would I have gath- 
ered thy children together, as a hen doth gather 
her brood under her wings, and ye would not!" 
Luke 13:34. 

n 161 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

The homeless one, our Saviour may be called, 
for he said of himself: u The foxes have holes, 
and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son 
of Man hath not where to lay his head." Matt. 
8 : 20. Whether as a matter of choice or of 
poverty, his head was many times wet with the 
dews of heaven, as the result of an all night com- 
munion with his Father, upon the mountain side. 

It is true that there were times when his 
fame and popularity were great, and vast multi- 
tudes followed him. But it is also true that many 
followed him, because of physical benefits which 
they received, such as healing, and because he 
fed them. There were times when he became so 
forsaken^ that, he turned to his own little com- 
pany of somewhat wavering disciples, and said: 
"Will ye go away also?" Twice they sought to 
make him king; but at the very moment of his 
triumphal entry into the capital city, when men 
were casting their garments into the way, and cry- 
ing Hosanna ! he was riding upon a borrowed 
colt. When he was found bruised and lifeless* 
on the cross, by Joseph of Arimathea, it was dis- 
covered that he had been too much occupied in 
life to prepare a tomb, or too poor to possess one; 
and was buried in the sepulchre of another. 



162 



The Christ of Prophecy — Man of Sorrows 

The Sorrow of Betrayal 

It was upon a quiet evening, following a busy 
day of toil, that Christ in company with his 
twelve disciples had gathered into the upper 
chamber, and was seated at the passover table. 
After he had instituted the ordinance of the sac- 
rament, and humbly, yet surprisingly, washed the 
disciples' feet, by these acts, putting into a concrete 
form, memorials of his service and sacrifice, he 
sat down with his disciples at the table. 

During the hours of the evening, he had car- 
ried in his heart a secret. He knew that one 
who had partaken of the passover meal, and had 
doubtless hypocritically participated in the sacra- 
ment, and had allowed the heavy hearted Lord to 
humbly wash his feet, had even now in his pos- 
session the bag which contained the betrayal price 
of thirty pieces of silver. 

John the beloved, who was reclining against 
the bosom of the Christ, must have felt the heav- 
ings of that breast, and heard the sighing of that 
heart, as he was being troubled in spirit and burst 
forth in the sad declaration: "Verily, verily, I 
say unto you, that one of you shall betray me." 
St. John 13 : 21. 

Sadly had he recounted the messianic psalm 
which says: "Yea, my own familiar friend, in 
whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath 

163 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

lifted up his heel against me." Psa. 41:9, St. 
John 13: 18. Having pointed out the betrayer, 
he said to Judas: "That thou doest, do quickly." 

A few hours elapsed. The Passover scene is 
changed for that of the garden. Here the sor- 
row of betrayal, occasioned by the treachery of 
one, is augmented by the sorrow of neglect, occa- 
sioned by the indifference of the rest. 

Although he had tenderly asked his disciples, 
to tarry and watch with him, telling them that 
his soul was "exceedingly sorrowful, even unto 
death;" yet while he was agonizing in prayer, 
until great blood drops gathered upon his brow 
and fell to the ground, the disciples were occupied 
with slumber. 

Having been sold for the price of a slave, and 
forsaken in the hour of anguish by his own dis- 
ciples, the Man of Sorrows now receives from the 
false lips of Judas the kiss of betrayal, and is led 
away to the high priest. 

Then as though the catalogue of sorrows 
which man could inflict, was not yet complete; 
while standing before the high priest, there doubt- 
less fell upon his ears the threefold denial of 
Peter; who in his attempt to disown any knowl- 
edge or acquaintance with his Lord, emphasized 
his words by bitter curses. 



164 



The Christ of Prophecy — Man of Sorrows 

The Sorrow of Vicarious Death 
The Old Testament prophecies before quoted, 
setting forth that the sufferings of the Man of 
Sorrows should be of a vicarious nature, have 
echoed in spirit, from every page of the New 
Testament history of the Christ. 

It has long been argued by skeptics and critics 
that if Jesus Christ had been Divine and sinless, 
as he is claimed to have been, the approaching 
hours of death would not have given him such 
intense agony and suffering. In reply to such ridi- 
cule and criticism, the church has not always given 
a satisfactory reply. 

Occasionally it is said concerning the intense 
sufferings of Christ, that it was the human which 
gave way, under the pressure of the hour, conse- 
quently, his great agony. Not so, for many of 
his followers since his day, have suffered most 
cruel and inhuman torture and death. But despite 
all this, they spent their last night upon earth in 
peaceful slumber or victorious song. Great is 
that multitude whose names are written upon the 
martyr records of the skies. The crimson stream 
of martyrs' blood began to flow just outside of 
Eden's gate, and has been flowing through all 
ages down to this present time. It is estimated 
that two hundred millions of martyrs have sealed 
their faith in Christ by their own blood ; and many 

165 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

of them marched triumphantly to the stake or 
place of execution. In view of these facts, the 
suggestion of weak humanity, in the person of 
Jesus Christ, is by no means a satisfactory solu- 
tion of his anguish. 

Again we hear it said, in explanation of the 
language of Jesus on the cross: "My God, my 
God, why hast thou forsaken me?"; that the Fa- 
ther had not forsaken his Son; but, that this cry 
of anguish was merely occasioned by a beclouding 
of the consciousness of our Lord, as a result of 
intense pain and physical suffering. This also is 
a mistake. He was as truly Divine as human, as 
truly the Son of God as the Son of Man. He who 
had always beheld the face of the Father, and 
had lived in constant communion with him, was 
not in error as to the attitude of his Heavenly 
Parent at this dark hour. 

The solution is this: His sufferings and death 
were substitutional and vicarious. His mission 
was to save sinners by taking their place and can- 
celling their indebtedness; hence the necessary 
qualification would be that of innocency and sin- 
lessness. He cannot pay another's debt, who him- 
self has nothing to pay. He cannot transfer to 
another who is guilty, an innocency which he does 
not possess. He cannot atone for another, who is 
in like manner guilty. But Jesus Christ, with 

166 



The Christ of Prophecy— Man of Sorrows 

every necessary qualification, was the waiting sub- 
stitute for man's redemption. 

Another point so frequently overlooked is 
that Jesus Christ not only came that he might die 
for men, and thus satisfy the eternal and inevitable 
law of justice ; but that he actually did take man's 
place of suffering under the death sentence of high 
heaven, and suffer man's penalty. 

Of the many references concerning the medi- 
atorial work of the Christ, there are two which 
serve as a key to the solution of the whole prob- 
lem. They are these : u For he hath made him 
to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might 
be made the righteousness of God in him. 2nd 
Cor. 5:21. and "Christ hath redeemed us from the 
curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Gal. 
3:13. In these two scritpures, Christ is de- 
clared to have become "sin" and u a curse." 

The very fact of his sinlessness and purity, 
qualifying him to make a vicarious atonement for 
sin, rendered him exceedingly sensitive to loath- 
some, defiling sin. His pure and spotless nature 
would recoil from sin, as a pure and delicate 
maiden would shrink from the presence of a ven- 
omous reptile. Consequently, when the sins of 
the world were laid upon him, and he became 
"sin" and "a curse," his soul experienced an an- 
guish, unknown to sinful man. Here mathemat- 

167 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

ical exactness should not be mentioned; but to say 
that the anguish of Jesus in his vicarious suffer- 
ings and death, represented the united soul-anguish 
of ten thousand mortals, would not be an exagger- 
ation. It represented the combined anguish of all 
who shall be saved as a result of his death and 
sufferings. It was this which caused him to 
sweat great drops of blood; and thrice to pray for 
a removal of the bitter cup if possible. It was 
due to the fact that the Christ had actually taken 
the sinner's place and that the infinite and just 
God could not look upon sin with any greater 
pleasure or allowance, as it rested upon his only 
Son, than when it lay upon mortal man only; that 
caused him really to hide away his face, and 
Jesus to exclaim: "My God, my God, why hast 
thou forsaken me?" 

Jesus Drinks Man's Cup of Sorrow. — Jesus 
Christ as man's substitute, has indeed drunk the 
cup of man's sorrow to its bitter dregs. Recalling 
the original curse which was pronounced upon 
man, that of broken communion, being exiled from 
Eden, his curse of sweat and toil, woman's curse 
of multiplied sorrow, with inevitable death in the 
end, it may be said: Man's broken communion 
with his Heavenly Parent, in the garden of 
Eden; became a bitter reality intensified a thou- 
sand times in the life of Jesus Christ when he ex- 

168 



The Christ of Prophecy — Man of Sorrows 

claimed from the cross, "My God, my God, why 
hast thou forsaken me?" The sweat of Man's 
brow, by which he was to eat his bread, poured 
out upon his brow but as great drops of blood as 
he wrestled in the garden. Woman's multiplied 
sorrow crushed down upon his own heart as the 
sin and guilt of the whole world were resting upon 
him, and he prayed: "Father if it be possible, 
let this cup pass fom me." Thorns, the product 
of the soil, cursed for man's sake, composed the 
crown which he wore on his head. Death, which 
was pronounced upon man as a direct consequence 
of sin, was tasted by him, in multiplied measure, 
when as he hanged upon the cross, the sun hid 
his face in blackness, the earth trembled, and he 
yielded up his spirit and died. 



169 




CHAPTER IX 

The Christ of Prophecy — The Man of 
Triumph 

HILE in our former chapter we beheld 
in the prophetic portrait of our sub- 
ject, a number of shadowy lines, which 
were found to have their fulfillment in 
the life of the historic Christ; it must 
not be forgotten that there is a brighter aspect to 
this apparent gloomy picture. It is the dark 
which gives contrast to the light. It is the densest 
darkness which immediately precedes the dawn. 
It is the sword before peace. It is conquest be- 
fore victory. It is the dark background, which 
gives color to a most beautiful painting. So here, 
the Man of Sorrows is the fore-runner of the Man 
of Triumph. 

Throughout the whole of Old Testament sym- 
bolism and prophecy, every one which points to- 
ward the Christ, as truly as does the needle of the 
compass point toward the north star, there is a 
distinct note of triumph. Here is the seed of the 
woman, whose heel is to be bruised; but who shall 

170 



The Christ of Prophecy— Man of Triumph 

bruise the serpent's head. Here is the one, who 
while being foreshadowed in his mediatorial sac- 
rifice, is also prefigured in his coming glory by 
the bread and wine of the priestly table. Here is 
the King whose sceptre is a righteous one, whose 
reign is one of peace, and whose throne is eternal. 
Even in that minutest detail of his anguish and 
sufferings, of Isa. the 53d chapter, the inspired 
writer occasionally throws in a cheering statement : 
"With his stripes we are healed," "He shall 
see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the 
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand," 
"He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall 
be satisfied," "Therefore will I divide him a por- 
tion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil 
with the strong." 

The Psalmist also in this connection, sings a 
note of triumph: "I will declare the decree: the 
Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this 
day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall 
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and 
the uttermost parts of the earth for thy posses- 
sion." Psa. 2:7, 8. 

Turning our eyes toward the Christ of the 
New Testament, it is again with pleasure, that we 
anticipate happy results. Shall the real and in- 
tense sufferings of our Lord for ever becloud his 
triumph and glory? Where is there a heart so 

171 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

stony as not to be broken by the story of his death? 
But where is there a heart so stupid and insensi- 
tive, as not to be affected by his triumph? 

In the person of Jesus Christ we find a "second 
Adam," a second man, — a second representative 
of the human race. In him the race had a sec- 
ond head, a new possibility. As a second repre- 
sentative of the race, our Lord became a subject 
of divine law. As "The second man," he stepped 
into the ranks of humanity just where he found 
them. It may be said of man, using the word man 
in the generic sense, as standing for the race, that 
he was a two-fold subject of divine law. In the 
first place he was an active subject of the law, 
which demanded obedience. This required obe- 
dience was not kept, consequently man became a 
passive subject of the law. The passive demand 
of the law, as punishment for disobedience, is 
stipulated in the following: "For in the day that 
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen. 
2: 17, and "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." 
Ezek. 18:4. 

If Jesus Christ is to be truly denominated 
"The man of Triumph," in contrast to the first 
man of failure; it is his to step into the place of 
the man of failure, and triumphantly obey the 
divine law, actively by obedience, and passively 
by his death. 

172 



The Christ of Prophecy — Man of Triumph 

The Triumph of Service 
No sooner had the Son of Man entered upon 
his ministry, being inaugurated at his baptism, by 
the anointing of the Holy Spirit, with a testimony 
from heaven, as to his Divine Sonship, than he 
was submitted to a most rigid test of his active 
obedience and service to divine law. 

This triumph of service was won by a hand- 
to-hand conflict with Satan, man's powerful and 
bitterest enemy, who had been watching our 
Lord's earthly career with eagerness. He not be- 
ing omniscient, may have like men, interpreted the 
remarkable things connected with the birth of 
Jesus, as the result of the purely natural. But 
when the skies were rended, and God acknowl- 
edged His Son, who was walking among men; it 
was then that the suspicions of the fallen arch- 
angel were thoroughly aroused; and a panic seized 
the under world when it became evident that the 
Son of God was treading with human footstep 
upon grounds which had been conquested, and was 
being claimed by Satan. 

No sooner had the Savior entered upon his 
office than he encountered the oppositions of the 
evil one. Though perhaps certain of his Divine 
Sonship, he finds him in the form of humanity; 
and with diabolical skill, plans to seduce the "sec- 
ond man," as he had the first at the beginning. 

173 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

Neither was this forbidden by God, for the Holy 
Spirit evidently delivered him into the hands of 
Satan, to be tempted, knowing that he who came 
as man's Redeemer could, and must meet Satan 
on any and every battlefield, and overcome him. 
Every advantage was allowed the tempter who, 
after the body of Christ had become weak during 
a period of forty days fasting, approaches him 
with the temptation which would most naturally 
appeal to one who is hungry. It was a challenge 
to prove his Deity by making the stones of the 
wilderness bread to satisfy his hunger. 

It was a temptation appealing to the same 
sense, that of the appetite, by which the first man 
was overcome. "Jesus proves himself to be able 
to resist the temptation, and not vainly desirous 
of proving his Deity replies: 'It is written, man 
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word 
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' " 

Failing to obtain any fanatical evidence from 
Jesus as to his Sonship, by appealing to the sense 
of hunger, he proceeds to another temptation; 
this time appealing to his supposed sense of pride. 
Taking him to the temple, he seated him upon 
a very high pinnacle. This pinnacle was possibly 
the "king's gallery" which was built at the South 
East corner of the temple, overlooking the steep 
precipice, into the valley of the Kedron. The dis- 

174 



The Christ of Prophecy — Man of Triumph 

tance is said to have been so great that the bottom 
below could not be seen from the gallery and 
caused one to become dizzy. 

"Here," said Satan, "is an opportunity for 
you to display your abilities, and prove your Di- 
vinity and Sonship ; More than that, it is written : 
(reciting from Psalms 91:11-12). "He shall 
give his angels charge concerning thee: And in 
their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any 
time thou dash thy foot against a stone." 
Whether or not Satan purposely misquoted this 
text, or being a poor Bible student, simply blun- 
dered; leaving out the clause "to keep thee in all 
thy ways," it is evident that its application to an 
occasion of this kind, would be a presumption 
upon God's goodness and help. Again Jesus met 
him with another scripture saying: "Thou shalt 
not tempt the Lord thy God." While refusing to 
comply with Satan's request for a proof of his 
Deity he does not hesitate to profess himself .as 
Lord and God. 

Finding no response in Christ to this tempta- 
tion, Satan proposes another. This time he risks 
all chances and outdoes himself in a third and 
final effort, to overcome the Son of God. He 
invites him to an exceedingly high mountain, and 
shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and 
the glory of them. Whether by a supernatural 

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Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

vision, Christ beheld all the kingdoms of the 
world, or whether the vision was a mental one, 
matters but little. "All these" says Satan: "I will 
give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me." 
He further more declares that they are all his, 
and that he can give them to whomsoever he 
chooses. For this claim many have charged Sa- 
tan with falsehood, saying, that he possessed noth- 
ing and had nothing to give. This is however a 
false accusation as Satan truthfully said: "For 
that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever 
I will I give it;" and he still shares the king- 
doms of the world with his subjects. Who are 
they who sit on the thrones and wear crowns 
and sway sceptres? In the majority of cases they 
are not the Lord's people. Jesus recognized and 
confessed him to be the "prince of this world;" 
for he said as he neared his crucifixion, "The 
prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in 
me." St. John 14:30. And also, that he shall 
be cast out. St. John 12 : 31. Consequently those 
things which Satan offered Jesus were temporarily 
his, possessing them as a usurper; and would 
doubtless have given to the Christ the thrones of 
the world, without his going by the way of the 
cross to conquer them, if he would only have fallen 
down and worshipped him. This would have 
been honoring him as God, which was evidently 

176 



The Christ of Prophecy — Man of Triumph 

Satan's highest ambition. Vain, vain indeed, for 
a usurper of the kingdoms of the world to offer 
to the Lord of Heaven and Creator of all things, 
these kingdoms at the price of homage. "No," 
was the verdict from the council chamber of the 
skies: "I will bring these kingdoms back to their 
legal owners, those for whom they were created, 
and to whom they were given, and annex them 
again to heaven as at the first, before sin entered 
the world; but they will be conquered gloriously, 
though it be at the price of blood." Again Jesus 
makes use of the sword of the Spirit, which is 
the word of God, and says, quoting from Deut. 
10:20. It is written: a Thou shalt worship the 
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." 
In this he not only refused the offer of Satan, but 
again boldly declared his Lordship. 

Satan having exhausted his resources, he now 
leaves Christ and angels come and minister unto 
him. 

It is interesting to note the peculiar corre- 
spondence between the temptations of Jesus, and 
those of the first man in Eden. St. John tells us 
that all, that there is in the world, by the way of 
sin, may be comprehended under the three follow- 
ing heads : the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, 
and the vain glory of life. 1st John 2 : 16, A. V. 
In other words, these are the three gateways by 
12 177 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

which the citadel of a man's inner self or true char- 
acter is reached, or they are three points of contact 
between the outer world and the individual. In 
both of these temptations, those of Christ and of 
Adam, entrance was sought at each of these ways, 
and inducements were offered at each point of con- 
tact, proving that Satan, although not omniscient 
is an apt student of human nature. The first was 
"good for food" — "the lust of the flesh," second 
"pleasant to the eyes" — "lust of the eyes," and 
third "to be desired to make one wise" — and ap- 
peal to the pride of "vain glory of life." Christ's 
temptation was an exact parallel. The bread was 
"good for food" — and appealed to the flesh; the 
pinnacle scene was purposed as a temptation to 
attract the eyes of the spectators in admiration — 
"the lust of the eyes;" and the offering of the king- 
doms, an attempt to gain entrance by the way of 
"vain glory." But these being the only ways of 
entrance, and Satan receiving no response at either 
of these ways, by any of these temptation, finds 
his resources exhausted and slank away as one who 
suffers shameful defeat. 

The importance of this triumph of Jesus over 
Satan, cannot easily be overestimated. It was a 
great crucial moment. Had Satan succeeded in 
his last temptation, the crown which was wrested 
from man at the beginning, would have been 

i 7 8 



The Christ of Prophecy — Man of Triumph 

placed upon his head by the Son of God himself. 
The battle of all the ages between Satan and God, 
would have been brought to an end; and the 
wicked ambition of Satan, from the earliest, to 
be equal with God, would have materialized. 

The Eden pair, easily succumbed to the temp- 
tation and sinned. The Son of God though 
tempted in like manner, but with multiplied se- 
verity, resisted and drove the enemy from the field. 

Tested and triumphant in the hour of great 
temptation, the steps of our Lord became the 
tread of a conqueror. He being the incarnation 
of divine truth, living in obedience to divine law, 
was placed in a distinct rank of service, in contrast 
to all others. Before his conquering tread dis- 
eases departed, fevers fled, the lame leaped, evil 
spirits cried, and the dead arose from silence. 
Who dares to deny to this Son of Prophecy, the 
title of the Man of Triumph? 

The Triumph of Sacrifice 

The triumphs of service seemed to be giving 
place to the despair of dying. The conqueror 
seems well nigh conquered. 

Bloodthirsty Jews have succeeded in falsely 
condemning him before the high-priest and Pi- 
late; and amidst noise and tumult, we hear the 
groanings of the suffering Saviour, and hear one 

179 



Old Testament Messages of the Christ 

deridingly exclaim: "He saved others; himself 
he cannot save." Was this true? Unwittingly a 
great truth of two-fold nature had been expressed. 
He had saved others, and from the very nature 
of the circumstances, he could not save himself. 
Not that it was impossible for him to escape from 
the cross, even at that late hour; but a passive 
obedience to the justice of a divine but broken law, 
was at stake ; and because of this he could not, he 
would not save himself. 

Deeper and deeper became the anguish and 
sufferings of our Lord, until in a manner some- 
thing like a penitent, repenting soul he casts him- 
self upon the mercy of God. Amidst the trem- 
blings of the earth and the blackness of the skies, 
he exclaims: "Father, into thy hands I commend 
my spirit," and died. Jews and wicked men 
skulked homeward, with a feeling of mixed satis- 
faction and fear. Satan and demons were doubtless 
chuckling with hellish glee, assuring themselves, 
that at last they had conquered the honored, 
mighty, miracle worker. He had finally suc- 
cumbed to death, and was lying in the grave. 
Vainly did they suppose that the great plan of 
human redemption was forever thwarted. 

Swooping down from the highest Heaven, 
came a mighty angel, who smiled at Roman dig- 
nity, defied Roman law, smote to temporary dead- 

180 



The Christ of Prophecy — Man of Triumph 

ness, the Roman soldiers, ignored the Roman seal 
and rolled away the stone from the door of the 
sepulchre. Freed from grave clothes and death, 
the Son of God stepped forth in resurrection life. 

Shouts whose echoes will never cease, must 
have arisen in the heavenly world when the Son 
of God stepped from the grave, triumphant over 
death, leading a procession of spirits of Old Tes- 
tament saints, who had been retained in Paradise, 
awaiting the full promised payment of their re- 
demption price; and placed the resurrection life 
within the possibility of every lost son of Adam's 
race. 

The Man Triumphant: Triumphant in Serv- 
ice; Triumphant in Sacrifice. 



181 



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